Terengganu have yet to pull off a win in Thailand but coach Nafuzi Zain is pleased with his players’ performances during the Tour of Bangkok.
The Turtles opened the pre-season tour with a 0-2 loss to Thai League 1 side Police Tero FC on Jan 30 but bounced back to hold Suphanburi 1-1 in their second match at the Alpine Football Camp Training Centre in Bangkok on Saturday.
Suphanburi, who paraded all their six foreigners, took the lead through Ryutaro Karube in the 35th minute before Faiz Nasir equalised in the 66th minute for Terengganu.
Their final game is against China’s Super League team Tianjin Teda today.
In the last two matches, Nafuzi has tested different combinations and feels that his plan is falling into place ahead of the Super League season which starts on Feb 28.
“I’m very satisfied with the player’s commitment and effort against Suphanburi. We were playing against quality opponents, who were physically strong. We had three imports against their six, ” said Nafuzi.
“It was a good test for us and we managed to match Suphanburi for a positive result. I’m happy with how the team is shaping up.”
The former international also praised his new striker Darren Lok and youngsters – leftback Azalinullah Alias and centreback Mohd Mohd Faudzi – who impressed during the match.
“The youngsters repaid my faith in this game, I’m proud of them but Darren’s performance surprised me the most… he’s still new and not fully fit but managed to show his physical presence in the game, ” said Nafuzi.
“There’s still plenty of room for improvement and we hope to see better showing when they face the biggest test against Tianjin tomorrow (today).”