Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
THE national football team were overpowered 5-0 by Lebanon in Group B of their 2027 AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia qualifying match on Wednesday.
Brunei are currently ranked 184th while their opponents are 72 places above them in the latest FIFA rankings.
Lebanon needed only five minutes to open the scoring after Malek Fakhro rose up to head home Chakroun's cross at the Saoud bin Abdulrahman Stadium in Al Wakrah in Qatar.
They doubled their lead in the 20th minute with Husseyn Chakroun once again the provider and this time Samy Merheg at the end of it.
It was 3-0 minutes later after Fakhro netted his second of the game off a rebound.
Lebanon didn't let up and Chakroun got his name on the scoresheet before the interval.
Majed Osman did the work to get past his marker and place it for Chakroun to fire it into the top corner.
Merheg almost made it five but this powerful header came off the right post.
Lebanon had full control the game after the break while Brunei were looking at opportunities on the counterattack.
Merheg came close to add to their tally in the 71st minute but Brunei custodian Haimie Nyaring did well to keep the ball out.
Lebanon finally got their fifth of the encounter in the 90th minute courtesy of substitute Mohamad Haidar.
Brunei will next host Bhutan at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas on June 10.
