It was a huge eye-opener for the young man and his teammates following their losses at the hands of the Maldives (1-0) on Thursday and hosts Indonesia (6-0) on Friday during the MNC Cup Under 23 tournament staged at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.
The PNG team are in Jakarta as guests of the Football Association of Indonesia in four-nation tournament with the Maldives, Laos and the hosts.
For Sengum he has benefitted well from the PNG Football Association (PNGFA) youth development program as a member of the national Under 20 and Under 23 teams that played in tournament’s in New Zealand in 2010 and last year.
“The New Zealanders are bigger than us and the Asian’s play a faster game, but they are not too far away from us,” he said.
“It’s not that we are not confident of holding the ball under pressure is just that we don’t play this style of football in PNG,” he said.
“We have the skill level to match them but because we don’t play regular matches at this level we are not accustomed to making quick decisions in general play,” he added.
Sengum admitted that one area that he wants to improve on is getting out of the habit of waiting for the ball to come instead of looking for space.
“Dispela niupela environment na stail blong soka blong ol, wok long skulim mi tu,” he said.
“Mi lanim planti samting, nau em challenge long mipela long go bek na stretim,” he added.
Sengum, from Giri Village in Bogia, Madang and Maprik, East Sepik Province comes from a strong football background following in the footsteps of past talent’s that include the late Adrian Komu, John Panu, Richard Lange and Terence Sisu to name a few.
Growing up at Kusbau Barracks in Madang and playing for the Momase club in the local competition has elevated this young man to become a full-time footballer.
Something players from 10 years ago would never have dreamed of.
Sengum has been part of the successful Besta ‘nursery’ program in Lae from 2008 to 2012 in the National Soccer League, before being scouted by the FC Pom franchise this year.
He now plays for its feeder club Uni FC in the Port Moresby Soccer Association (PMSA).
The 22-year-old who will turn another year older on December 12 was born in 1991, the year PNG last hosted the then called South Pacific Games in Port Moresby and Lae.
Like all players on this fact finding tour, Sengum has set his sights fixed on playing into calculations for national selectors to be given that opportunity to represent PNG on home soil in the 2015 Pacific Games in Port Moresby.
Less than two years is not far away and with the PNGFA sweating away to ensure the national team is competitive with the limited resources available, the move to partner our closest neighbours to the west has been a godsend.
Sengum who aims to take up coaching later down the line has had his vault of knowledge boosted with the tour.
He thanked national selectors, national coach Bob Morris and coaching staff Reginald Davani, Trevor Ire and visiting coaching director Asia/Pacific Academy Giovanni Fernandez based in Christchurch, New Zealand for the opportunity.
“Mi lukim olsem OFC na PNGFA president David Chung gat gutpela tingting long karim mipela kam long Indonesia…nau em taim blong mipela long bekim wantaim kaikai,” he added.
By John PANGKATANA