Timor-Leste national football team

The Timor-Leste national football team is the national team of East Timor (Portuguese: Timor-Leste) and is controlled by the Federação de Futebol de Timor-Leste. They joined FIFA on 12 September 2005.[4]

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Timor-Leste women's national football team.

Timor-Leste
Nickname(s)O Sol Nascente
(The Rising Sun)
Pequena Nação do Samba
(The Little Samba Nation)
Lafaek
(The crocodile)
AssociationFederação de Futebol de Timor-Leste
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationAFF (Southeast Asia)
Head coachNorio Tsukitate
CaptainNataniel Reis [1]
Most capsAnggisu Barbosa (30)
Top scorerRufino Gama (7)
Home stadiumNational Stadium
FIFA codeTLS
First colours
Second colours
FIFA ranking
Current 196 (16 July 2020)[2]
Highest146 (June 2015)
Lowest206 (October 2012)
First international
 Sri Lanka 3–2 Timor-Leste 
(Colombo, Sri Lanka; 21 March 2003)[3]
Biggest win
 Timor-Leste 5–1 Cambodia 
(Yangon, Myanmar; 5 October 2012)
Biggest defeat
 Timor-Leste 0–10 Saudi Arabia 
(Dili, Timor Leste; 17 November 2015)
AFC Solidarity Cup
Appearances1 (first in 2016)
Best resultGroup stage (2016)

Timor-Leste's international debut was in the preliminary round of the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification in March 2003, when they lost 3–2 to Sri Lanka and 3–0 to Chinese Taipei.[5] They also participated in the 2004 AFF Championship. Timor-Leste's participation in Southeast Asia's premier international football event in 2004 was announced after an Asian Football Confederation council meeting in Petaling Jaya. Although not yet a member of the AFC, the Timor-Leste Football Association was invited to sit in on the meeting, where they were represented by FA president Francia Kalbuadi. Timor-Leste won their first international match on 5 October 2012 against Cambodia with a score of 5–1.[6]

History

Football was established in Timor-Leste during the Portuguese colonial era, when many of the locals and the Portuguese officials played amateur football. After Portugal ended its colonial rule, Indonesia invaded and occupied the island. East Timor eventually gained independence from Indonesia in 2000, which resulted in a long running battle against Jakarta-led forces.

The East Timor Football Association was accepted as an associate member of AFC at the 20th AFC Congress in 2002. Their international debut came in March 2003 when they participated in the qualifying campaign for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup in China. Given their history, it was no surprise that they crashed out with defeats against the likes of Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei. They entered the regional competition for the first time in 2004 as they played in the ASEAN Football Federation Championship (previously known as Tiger Cup) as an invited member. They finished in last place, showing that they had a long way to go before they could compete even on the regional stage.

They again had no success in the qualifying round of the 2007 AFF Championship, with four heavy losses, including a 7–0 trouncing by the Philippines. In the third qualifying round for the 2008 AFF Championship, they surprisingly drew against Cambodia; this feat was reported in international news.

In the ninth AFF Suzuki Cup, the country's football federation (FFTL) reportedly selected their foreign based players, who played in Brazil, Portugal, Australia and elsewhere, to fortify the team as they also did at the 2011 SEA Games.[7]

On 5 October 2012, Timor-Leste won their first international match in a 5–1 victory against Cambodia.[8] On 9 October 2012, the team won another match against Laos at AFF Suzuki Cup qualifier. Murilo de Almeida score the penalty at 43 minutes of the first half of the match. Later Adelino Trindade extended the Timorese advantage with a header early in the second half and then Alan Leandro added the third goal on the 83rd minute.[9] After winning the second match against Laos, Emerson Alcântara stated "This is a win for the people of Timor Leste. They had to wait a long time for our team to win their first match in this competition but now we have two wins and this was an important victory for Timor Leste. "I think that about 70 percent of people in Timor Leste are poor so it is very important to get this result for them because they love football and the people can get confidence and take pride in this result. It is very important for us to motivate our people and to help to change their lives."[10]

In 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification of Asian zone, Timor-Leste wrote history for being the first country to win 4–1 over Mongolia.

Naturalised players controversy

Since 2012 several Brazilian-born footballers, who are not of East Timorese descent and had not necessarily played in the East Timorese League, were expressly naturalised to raise the level of "Sol Nascente".[11]

The country's recent history of naturalizing foreign players, mainly from Brazil such as Murilo de Almeida, Fellipe Bertoldo, and Diogo Santos Rangel has been criticized by many, including native East Timorese players and fans.[12][13]

In a match on 8 October 2015 against Palestine seven of the starting eleven for the Timorese line-up were naturalized Brazilians.[14] Following the match the Palestinian Football Association made a complaint to FIFA stating that the naturalized Timorese players were not eligible to represent Timor-Leste under FIFA rules.[15][16]

Following a concern from some Timorese who complained to the prime minister, the prosecutor general and the minister for justice regarding the naturalisation program, Timor Leste Football Federation (FFTL) decided to drop their oversea-born legion. It meant Timor Leste would be without seven naturalised Brazilian players for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup joint qualifiers match against United Arab Emirates on 12 November 2015.[17] In that match coach Fernando Alcântara played an all national line up including six who were under twenty, including Ervino Soares who was 16. Timor Leste ended up losing the match 8–0. Alcântara took responsibility for the defeat although he also added that he had been forced to play such an inexperienced line-up by the FFTL.[18]

The next match, Timor-Leste did even worse, suffering a record 0–10 home defeat to a strong Saudi Arabia side, who eventually qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Jesse Pinto, an Australian-Timorese footballer, told reporters that the FFTL gives Brazilian players Timorese passports so that they can be registered as "Asian" players and meet the quotas of teams. Pinto also added that the FFTL often takes advantage of players from poor backgrounds, but that it often did not meet its promises of allowing players to travel back to Brazil to meet their families.[19]

In December 2016, the FFTL was charged with using forged and falsified documents, fielding ineligible players and bringing the game into disrepute.[20]

A decision was made on the 20 January 2017 that Timor-Leste is barred from participating in the qualification tournament for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup after being found to have fielded a total of twelve ineligible players in 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches and among other competitions.[21]

Kits

Kit Manufacturers
Period Manufacturer
2008-2010 Tiger
2012 Nike
2013-14 Mitre
2015-2017 Kubba Sportswear
2018- Narrow

The team's kit manufacturer was Kubba Sportswear from June 2014 to February 2017.[22]

Since 2018, the kits are made by Narrow, an Indonesian apparel. The home kit is red shirts, black shorts, and red socks, with black as a secondary color. The away kit all white.[23] From 2008 to 2010, their away kits were yellow but at 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification, the away kits changed back into all whites.[24] Their kits were made by Nike in 2012. Previous kit makers include mitre, Joma, Nike and Tiger.

Stadium

Timor Leste's home stadium is the East Timor National Stadium in Dili. The stadium capacity is 5,000. The first official match played in the stadium was a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Mongolia on 12 March 2015.

Timor Leste national football team home stadiums
Image Stadium Capacity Location Last match
East Timor National Stadium 13,000 Dili v   Saudi Arabia
(17 November 2015; 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification)


Competition records
Main article: Timor-Leste national football team results

World Cup record
FIFA World Cup FIFA World Cup qualification
Year Result Position Pld W D* L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
1930 to 1974 Part of Portugal Part of Portugal
1978 to 1998 Part of Indonesia Part of Indonesia
2002 to 2006Did not enter
2010Did not qualify 2002311
2014 200217
2018 100010050
2022 2002212
2026To be determined To be determined
Total−0/22−−−−−− 160016680

Lusofonia Games

Asian Cup record
Asian Cup
Year Round Pld W D L GF GA
1956 to 1972Part of Portugal
1976 to 2000Part of Indonesia
2004Did not qualify
2007Did not enter
2011
2015
2019Did not qualify
2023Banned[21]
Total−−−−−−−

AFC Challenge Cup record
AFC Challenge Cup
Year Round Pld W D* L GF GA
2006Did not enter
2008Withdrew
2010Did not enter
2012Did not enter
2014Did not enter
TotalBest: −−−−−−−
  • 2006 – Was originally selected to take part, but was then replaced
  • 2008 – Was selected to take part, but withdrew

AFC Solidarity Cup record
AFC Solidarity Cup
Year Round Pld W D L GF GA
2016Group stage201104
TotalBest: Group stage201104

AFF Championship
  • Finals Records Only

Players

Current Squad

The following players were call-up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – AFC First Round matches against Malaysia on 7 and 11 June 2019.[26]

Caps and goals are correct as of 11 June 2019, after the match against  Malaysia.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Aderito (1997-05-15) 15 May 1997 13 0 Ponta Leste
12 1GK Fernando (1995-06-18) 18 June 1995 0 0 Benfica Laulara
20 1GK Natalino (2000-12-25) 25 December 2000 0 0
2 2DF Duarte (2000-12-29) 29 December 2000 0 0
3 2DF Gaspar (1996-08-26) 26 August 1996 1 0
4 2DF Candido (1997-12-02)2 December 1997 (aged 20) 8 0 Ponta Leste
5 2DF João Panji (2000-10-29) 29 October 2000 4 0 Assalam F.C.
6 2DF Ade (1995-06-02) 2 June 1995 24 3 Ponta Leste
13 2DF Gumario (2001-10-18) 18 October 2001 8 0 Boavista
17 2DF Victor (1997-12-05) 5 December 1997 15 0 Karketu Dili
18 2DF Filomeno Junior (1998-08-05)5 August 1998 (aged 20) 9 0 Benfica Laulara
22 2DF Avigmas (1999-12-24) 24 December 1999 15 1 Boavista
8 3MF Mouzinho (2002-06-26) 26 June 2002 1 0
11 3MF Gelvanio (1998-10-08)8 October 1998 (aged 19) 4 0 Boavista
14 3MF Elias (2002-03-27) 27 March 2002 1 0
15 3MF Armindo (1998-04-18) 18 April 1998 4 0 Académica
16 3MF Danilson (2001-05-15) 15 May 2001 1 0
19 3MF Gali (1996-12-31) 31 December 1996 3 0 Benfica Laulara
23 3MF Osvaldo (2000-10-18) 18 October 2000 8 0 Karketu Dili
7 4FW Rufino Gama (1998-06-20) 20 June 1998 18 7 Karketu Dili
9 4FW Savio (1992-08-28) 28 August 1992 4 0 Boavista
10 4FW João Pedro (2000-08-20) 20 August 2000 8 2 North Bangkok University
21 4FW Kefi (1997-01-27) 27 January 1997 10 0 Boavista

Previous squads

Records

As of match against  Malaysia on 11 June 2019.

Youngest debut record
#PlayerAgeDebut dateOpponentTournament
1.Ade
15 years, 172 days
21 November 2010
 Indonesia
Friendly Match
2.Anggisu Barbosa
15 years, 217 days
19 October 2008
 Cambodia
2008 AFF Suzuki Cup qualification
3.Nelson Sing
15 years, 225 days
21 November 2010
 Indonesia
Friendly Match
4.Olegario
16 years, 28 days
21 November 2010
 Indonesia
Friendly Match
5.Gumario
16 years, 47 days
4 December 2017
 Chinese Taipei
2017 CTFA International Tournament
6.José Fonseca
16 years, 63 days
21 November 2010
 Indonesia
Friendly Match
7.Nelson
16 years, 157 days
29 May 2016
 Cambodia
Friendly Match
8.Adi
16 years, 164 days
21 March 2003
 Sri Lanka
2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification
=Efrem Almeida
16 years, 164 days
21 November 2010
 Indonesia
Friendly Match
10.Ervino
16 years, 166 days
12 November 2015
 United Arab Emirates
2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

Current Staff
As of June 2019
Position Name
Manager Gaspar Quintao da Silva
Assistant Manager Jose Carlos da Fonseca
Head Coach Norio Tsukitate
Assistant Coach Eduardo Pereira
Goalkeeping Coach Juliao Monteiro
Physiotherapist Richa Arun Kulkarni
Media Officer Zelfa Beatvi Borges Soares
Administrator Frederico Pereira Martins
Official Joao Pedro Ribeiro
Kitman Mateus de Oliveira Soares

List of Coaches

As of 11 June 2019

Manager Period Internationals Competitions
G W D L %
José Luís 2004–2006 10 0 0 10 000.0 2004 AFF Championship – Group stage
2006 Lusophony Games – Group stage
João Paulo Pereira 2007 2 0 0 2 000.0
Pedro Correia de Almeida 2007–2008 5 0 1 4 000.0
Clodoaldo 2010 3 0 0 3 000.0
Antonio Carlos Vieira 2011–2012 6 1 1 4 016.7
Emerson Alcântara 2012–2014 4 2 0 2 050.0
Manuel da Costa Soares 2015 1 1 0 0 100.0
Fábio Magrão 2015–2016 3 1 2 033.3 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup – Group stage
Fernando Alcântara 2015–2016 6 0 1 5 000.0
Simón Elissetche[28] 2017–2018 3 1 0 2 033.3 2017 CTFA Tournament – Third place
Norio Tsukitate 2018– 9 1 1 7 011.1 2018 AFF Championship – Group stage
2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – Did not qualify
Coaches in Italics were hired as caretakers
gollark: Classes? WHY?
gollark: No they aren't.
gollark: "issue"
gollark: They care about as much as I care about a CC browser.
gollark: Doubt it.

See also

    References
    1. "Timor-Leste national football team captain". 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014.
    2. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking". FIFA. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
    3. "East Timor matches, ratings and points exchanged". World Football Elo Ratings: East Timor. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
    4. "Member Association – Timor-Leste". FIFA.com. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
    5. "Timor-Leste – Timor-Leste – Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news – Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
    6. "Timor Leste cause upset; Myanmar win". ESPNStar.com. 5 October 2012. Archived from the original on 12 October 2012.
    7. "KIMURA FOR LAOS' AFF SUZUKI CUP 2012 QUALIFYING CAMPAIGN". ASEAN Football. 23 May 2012.
    8. "Cambodia 1-5 Timor Leste". 5 October 2012. Archived from the original on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2020.
    9. "Timor Leste 3 Laos 1". Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
    10. "Win dedicated to Timorese people". 10 October 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018.
    11. "How Timor-Leste, like others, (probably) flouted FIFA's eligibility rules". These Football Times. 29 November 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
    12. "Timor Leste naturalisation of Brazilian footballers criticized". Football Channel Asia. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
    13. Jack Kerr (1 October 2015). "Success Is No Longer Foreign to East Timor, but the Players Are". The New York Times.
    14. Jack Kerr (8 October 2015). "East Timor Fields Seven Ex-Brazilians in Tie With Palestine". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
    15. Jack Kerr (16 October 2015). "East Timor Fields Seven Ex-Brazilians in Tie With Palestine". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
    16. "Is East Timor Illegally Putting Together a National Soccer Team With Brazilian Players?". Sports. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
    17. "Timor Leste set to be without seven naturalised Brazilians for UAE clash". Football Channel Asia. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
    18. Amith Passela (12 November 2015). "Coach Mahdi Ali cautions his players that tougher challenges await as UAE thrash East Timor to get World Cup qualification back on track". The National. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
    19. Jack Kerr (7 November 2015). "Darwin soccer player who captained Timor-Leste opens up on team's FIFA controversy". ABC. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
    20. Jack Kerr (9 December 2016). "East Timor Is Accused of Using Ineligible Players for Its Soccer Team". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
    21. "Federacao Futebol Timor-Leste expelled from AFC Asian Cup 2023". The-AFC.com. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
    22. "Timor Leste Football Federation sign Kubba sportswear contract".
    23. "2017-18 Timor-Leste Away Shirt *BNIB*". Сlassic Football Shirts. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
    24. "Timor-Leste national team". www.colours-of-football.com. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
    25. "Fixtures Results". eloratings. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
    26. "Malaysia – Timor Leste". AFCS.
    27. László Földesi. "International Goals of East Timor". RSSSF. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
    28. Bola.com (27 October 2017). "Former Persita Coach Officially Handles the Timor Leste National Team". bola.com (in Indonesian).
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