SINGAPORE – He has been away from his nation for greater than 50 days and has not been residence for nearly 100 days, however Timor-Leste ahead Mouzinho was stuffed with goal and pleasure whereas speaking to The Straits Instances via a translator on Saturday (Dec 11).
The 19-year-old stated: “I do miss my household, however we now have a mission right here in Singapore.”
Since Oct 21, lots of the Timorese gamers and backroom employees have been within the Republic. Their first endeavor was the Beneath-23 Asian Cup qualifiers, the place they acquitted themselves properly by holding the Younger Lions to a 2-2 draw and beating the Philippines 1-0 to complete third behind South Korea and Singapore.
After that marketing campaign, solely six gamers returned residence, whereas 17 stayed on with eight officers to organize for the continued AFF Suzuki Cup. They had been then joined by one other six senior gamers.
Timor-Leste coach Fabio Maciel defined: “There are restricted flights per 30 days between the 2 international locations, so it was troublesome to return and are available again right here.”
So approach earlier than the opposite eight visiting groups arrived, they had been already functioning within the match’s bubble, shuttling solely between Resort Royal and coaching grounds at Jalan Besar and Gombak.
Maciel, a 44-year-old Brazilian, stated: “The lodge is nice, and the meals is nice. We’re grateful for our federation for financing our keep right here and the Soccer Affiliation of Singapore for his or her help.”
Mouzinho, who’s the youngest of six siblings born in Maliana, had no issues too, regardless of breaking his earlier document of being away from residence for a month.
The ahead added: “The final time was additionally due to soccer, and we now have had a couple of abroad journeys, so this isn’t an unfamiliar scenario.
“I do miss taking part in with my two elder brothers and having cassava (a tapioca-like root vegetable), however apart from that, every part is nice right here.
“I talk with my household by way of WhatsApp and I nonetheless have many mates right here with me. We can not exit, however we move time in our rooms by watching movies, singing and dancing. And we nonetheless can prepare and play soccer, which makes us completely satisfied.”
They’ve had a tough time at this Asean Soccer Federation Championship, nonetheless, shedding to Thailand (2-0), Myanmar (2-0) and the Philippines (7-0) earlier than they spherical up their Group A marketing campaign towards hosts Singapore on the Nationwide Stadium on Tuesday.
Whatever the consequence, Timor-Leste will probably be eradicated and can fly residence on Thursday.
“The Suzuki Cup is the next stage, however there have been moments the place we confirmed we will compete, and we are going to maintain making an attempt to enhance,” famous Mouzinho.
And Maciel backed his younger gamers to return with a vengeance in future editions.
He stated: “It isn’t simple to play 4 matches in 10 days. We gave completely different gamers an opportunity, however it’s the youthful gamers who’ve taken duty to step up.
“We have now so many teenage gamers like Mouzinho and Paulo Gali who’ve the potential to grow to be prime gamers not simply in Asean but in addition Asia, and it’s my job as coach and father determine to construct them.
“Our home league is just not so sturdy, so we have to discover alternatives for them abroad. They are going to solely get higher taking part in in stronger groups. With extra high quality taking part in time, I consider we will make it to the semi-finals of the AFF U-23 Youth Championship, SEA Video games and Suzuki Cup subsequent 12 months.”
