A Day Before The Red Bull Tri-Nations Cup 2011

8 October 2011, Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), Brunei – My journey with the boys of Team B.A. Singapore started this morning at Changi Airport at 1130 am just before we boarded Royal Brunei Airlines’ flight BI 422 bound for BSB.   The seven man team is made up of Team Manager and player Imran bin Muhammad Zainuddin, Goal keeper Ahmad Faez bin Yahya and the rest of the team members Muhammad Fazli Bin Musa, Hanafiah bin Samsuri, Mohd Solihin bin Senin, Muhammad Affendi Bin Zailani and Muhammad Zainol bin Hulam Mohammad.

Upon arrival we wee whisked off to the Indoor Stadium at Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Complex, Berakas where the team practised and got familiarised for the finals of the inaugural Red Bull Tri-Nations Cup to be held a day late in a round robin against two other more experienced teams – LTS FC Malaysia and QAF FC B Brunei Darulsalam.

At the Press Conference with the three Team Captains and the National Football Association of Brunei Darussalam (NFABD) and the Football Association of Malaysia, (strangely there was no representative from Football Association of Singapore) I asked Imran what did he expect from this experience in Brunei knowing that his opponents were going to be a tough fight, of which the Malaysian team has 3 ex national players and the Brunei team has also won many leagues as well as overseas championships.    He hopes the team will play and try their best in the finals and learn from this experience.  The team has never had any experience in professional futsal and has been playing only in local tournaments.   Furthermore the ground for the competition is different from what the team is used to in Singapore as it has a rubberized texture that has more friction than the cement ground in Singapore.    They’ll have to look out to prevent injuries and reduce getting any red card in the match.

Red Bull intends to make this cup a bigger one next year including the same three nations with more sponsors.  Malaysia is epected to be the venue of next year’s cup.    There was also talks of including women in the cup, but women will probably play in exhibition matches rather than the centrestage.

Red Bull is sponsoring this Futsal initiative as it is an energy consuming sport and Red Bull can provide the energy to play and perform longer.

We wish the teams good luck for the finals.

Adrian Editor

Adrian Eugene Seet, editor of SUPERADRIANME.com, has long shared his passion for travel, destinations, and air travel. His childhood love for exploration has evolved into a thriving career, with his engaging content inspiring others to discover new cultures. Taiwan is his new-found favourite destination, and he dreams of visiting the Andes. Adrian's work is driven by his curiosity for travel trends and a commitment to lifelong learning.

See Full Bio