Brunei
Brunei have only played five matches in the last four years
This inactivity was partly due to being suspended by FIFA in 2009 for two years due to government interference
Brunei Darussalam, one of Asia and the world’s most inactive national teams, is preparing for a step-up in activity.
The oil-rich sultanate located on the north east coast of Borneo is expected to enter the Asian Football Federation Championship, also known as the Suzuki Cup, for only the second time in 2021.
Brunei’s only other appearance was in 1996 and the country has only entered World Cup qualifying four times. This inactivity was partly due to being suspended by FIFA in 2009 for two years due to government interference.
The Hornets have entered the last two World Cups and in qualifying for Russia 2018 finally won a match, beating Taiwan 1-0, only to then lose on aggregate. Dutch coach Robbie Servais emulated this feat in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, beating Mongolia 2-1, but lost 3-2 on aggregate in June 2019. Brunei have not played since.
“All the best local players play for Brunei’s top club DPMM in the S-League in Singapore, but when I arrived their relationship with the association was not good and one by one they dropped out,” says Servais, who was only there for the qualifiers and is now back in Netherlands with Maastricht. “So I had to start working with reserve players from DPMM and players from the local amateur league. The technical level was not great so I had to build a team with good spirit. “In Mongolia we had no chance, but it was crazy back home. There were nearly 20,000 people there and they played the game of their lives. It was a big shame as Mongolia went on to play in a group with Japan. The exposure would have been fantastic.”
The withdrawal of all 12 DPMM players selected in Servais’ initial 16-man squad, as Brunei’s top club were on the way to winning their second S-League title, was particularly frustrating.
DPMM, who are owned by Brunei’s Crown Prince Al Muhtadee Billah, quit the local league in 2004 to play in Malaysia, then joined the S-League in 2009. That first spell was interrupted by FIFA’s suspension but DPMM returned and won a first title in 2015.
British coach Adrian Pennock, formerly of Forest Green Rovers, repeated the feat in 2019 using Brunei’s best players and just three foreigners. One is Englishman Charlie Clough, who says: “A lot of the DPMM players don’t like the national team and there’s a massive difference with the local league. We played the champions in a friendly and beat them 10-0.”
DPMM withdrew from the 2020 S-League after the first two rounds due to the coronavirus. After a year of just training, DPMM’s players may be keener to take part in the Suzuki Cup but to produce a consistently competitive team requires wider changes, says former technical director John Whittle.
Whittle, who left in December 2019 after 16 months, says coach education and grassroots development need addressing, as does a bias towards one of Brunei’s four districts.
He explains: “I often questioned how players were selected into national age group squads, as 99 per cent of all age group squads came from Muara. It is similar with the 14 clubs that now make up the Senior League Competition: all are from Muara. Why are the clubs from Tutong, Belait and Temburong not a part of the NFABD?
“Without strategic planning across the four districts, then how can they be competitive internationally?”
If Brunei are to progress, changes are clearly required.