MALAYSIA will only be satisfied if they progress past the group stage of Saturday's Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy (HBT).

Six more teams touched down in Brunei for the fourth edition of the biennial tournament yesterday, with Singapore set to complete the list of 10 countries when they arrive today morning.

Despite fielding a side made up of Under-19s for the Under-21 HBT, Malaysia's coach felt his team's good performance in a couple of friendlies in Singapore has put Harimau Muda B (the Malaysian Under-21 team) in good stead.

"Our target is to reach the semi-finals," Ismail Ibrahim said yesterday.

"Eight of our players made it into the Harimau Muda A (Under-23) team last year and it's a new group we are bringing here so a lot will depend on their attitude and character on the field.

"We just came back from Singapore where we beat the Singaporean Under-18 team 2-1 and drew 1-1 against their Under-21 side.

"I think the strongest team in our group is Vietnam I don't know much about the rest," he added.

Though he admitted Malaysia will be the team to beat, Laos' manager Bounlap Khenkitisack said his side is more than capable of putting up a fight especially with Lamnao Singto in their ranks.

The midfielder is one of the team's overage players and his inclusion in the HBT side is no surprise considering he was the top scorer at last year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Jakarta, where he netted six times.

"We've only been training for a month ... That's when the league in Laos finished," said Bounlap.

"I think Malaysia are the strongest team ... Vietnam and Indonesia are at the same level but of course, Laos is good," he added with a laugh.

The Philippines is also another country which could have done with more preparation - though Zoran Djordjevic wasn't complaining.

"You can never be fully prepared in football. It's the same at the World Cup, there's always something that the teams can do more of," said the Serbian who took charge of the Filipino Under-21 and Under-23 teams last month.

"Genetically, the Philippines has God-given abilities in football both mentally and physically.

"We are very happy to be here and we have a talented group of players who can go far," said Djordjevic, who insisted on thanking Filipino national team manager Dan Palami for all his support.

Also arriving in the Sultanate yesterday were Indonesia and Vietnam. Timor Leste touched down on Tuesday while Cambodia reached Brunei the day before.

Defending champions Thailand pulled out of the tournament last week.

The Brunei Times