FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S senior men’s football national team will be holding a training gathering in the kingdom starting next week instead of a planned overseas camp in Türkiye.
This was confirmed by the Bahrain Football Association (BFA), who announced yesterday the squad list of 30 players called up by head coach Dragan Talajic.
The daily practice sessions will be held from Sunday to March 31.
A number of Bahrain’s top international stars are set to join training, led by Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, Ali Madan, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Mahdi Humaidan, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Amine Benaddi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Abdulla Al Khalasi, and Mohammed Al Rumaihi, to name a few.
The rest of the roster features Sayed Mahmoud Almosawi, Jassim Al Shaikh, Ebrahim Alkhattal, Sayed Hashem Issa, Ahmed Bughammar, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Saleh Al Zubaidi, Ali Al Doseri, Hussain Abdulkarim, Hassan Alkarani, Ahmed Dhiya, Sayed Redha Isa, Vincent Emmanuel, Abbas Al Asfoor, Sayed Mahdi Sharaf, and Omar Saber, along with goalkeepers Abdulkarim Fardan, Omar Salem, Godwill Chia Ndang, Mohammed Elgharably.
The Bahrainis were scheduled to travel to Istanbul for a camp during the upcoming international break, but those plans have been shelved due to the unfortunate events currently taking place in the kingdom and across the Gulf. That trip was set to include two international friendly matches against Uganda and Kyrgyzstan on March 26 and 30, respectively.
The nationals will instead hold their gathering in Bahrain under Talajic’s supervision, with no tune-up games on the cards.
This training period is part of their preparations for their major upcoming competitions, among which are the 27th Gulf Cup – which they will be entering as defending champions – scheduled for later this year, and the AFC Asian Cup 2027, set for January.
This year’s Gulf Cup, organised by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF) and known as ‘Khaleeji 27’, is set to be held in September and October in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It will feature the participation of eight teams, including the UAE, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Yemen, hosts Saudi, and Bahrain.
Matches are to take place at Alinma Stadium in King Abdullah Sport City and Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium. The draw date for the tournament’s group stage has yet to be announced by the AGCFF.
Meanwhile, the Bahrainis are one of 24 senior men’s squads who will be competing in the upcoming edition of the AFC Asian Cup, to be held by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) from January to February next year across three cities in Saudi.
Bahrain are one of 20 nations to already book their places in the continental competition, with another four to be determined next month. The draw for the Asian Cup’s preliminary round is currently scheduled for April 11 in Riyadh.
The other squads confirmed for the tournament are defending champions Qatar; former winners Australia, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, and Kuwait; and Uzbekistan, the UAE, Oman, Palestine, Jordan, China, Indonesia, North Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Syria, Singapore, and hosts Saudi, who are also ex-titlists.
Bahrain will be playing in the AFC event for the eighth time, including for the seventh straight edition.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh