Chonburi: Timor-Leste booked their spot in the group stage of the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup™ 2024 after playing out a 0-0 draw against Brunei Darussalam in the second leg of the qualification round at Chonburi Stadium on Tuesday.
The result meant that the Timorese advanced 1-0 on aggregate after Simon Elissetche’s side dominated the contest, posting as many as 19 attempts on goal while keeping things watertight at the back.
Having suffered a heavy defeat to Brunei DS at the same stage two years ago, Timor-Leste return to the tournament proper for the first time since the rescheduled 2020 edition with this set to be their fourth group stage appearance overall.
The decisive moment came a week ago in the first leg in Bandar Seri Begawan when star player Paulo Gali’s fine effort handed the Timorese the victory, with that being the sole goal over 180 minutes of action.
And it was the tricky winger who carried on from where he left off when he had the game’s first notable attempt after going on a wonderful solo run before being scythed down. Gali dusted himself down and stepped up to take the resulting free-kick but failed to test Haimie Nyaring in the opposing goal in the 11th minute.
The Timor-Leste captain continued to be a thorn in the Brunei defence, providing the spark again around the 25-minute mark when he skipped past a couple of challenges before dinking wide from a narrow angle.
Needing a goal to get back into the game, meanwhile, Brunei struggled to get a foothold in the match with no attempts on target in the opening 45 minutes, leaving Jamie McAllister hoping that his half-time pep talk could spur on his team after the interval.
The Wasps did start the second half on the front foot when captain Azwan Ali Rahman’s floated delivery was headed over by centre-forward Nazirrudin Ismail from six yards out when he perhaps should have done better.
At the other end of the pitch, Haimie kept Brunei in the tie when he rushed off his line to deny Elias Mesquita a clear attempt at goal in the 57th minute as the Timorese sought to regain their control back in the match.
Similar to the first half, Gali was in the thick of the action and had another opportunity from a free-kick but shot over the Brunei goal in the 65th minute as he continued to be the most lively player on the pitch.
The free-kick count continued to rise for Timor-Leste and it was Mesquita who next tried his luck from the dead-ball situation but shot straight at Haimie from 30 yards out in the 85th minute.
In the closing stages, Brunei finally had the chance they were in search of when substitute Shafie Efenddy found himself with only the keeper to beat but scuffed his shot as Timor-Leste breathed a huge sigh of relief to hold on and secure their ticket to the group stage.
O Sol Nascente will kick off their group stage campaign against seven-time champions Thailand and also have Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia for company in Group A of the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024, which kicks off on December 8.
Meanwhile, Group B consists of Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar and Laos with the 15th edition of the showpiece regional competition set to run until January 5 next year.
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