FOOTBALL – DEFENDING champions Bahrain kicked off their final preparations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia last night for the 27th Gulf Cup.
The eight-nation tournament, dubbed ‘Khaleeji 27’ gets underway tomorrow, with the kingdom’s senior men’s football national team beginning their bid for a title repeat on Thursday.
The Bahrainis held a training session yesterday at King Abdullah Sports City under the supervision of head coach Dragan Talajic and his staff.
The nationals had arrived in Jeddah on Sunday night and settled in at their residence at a local five-star hotel.
An official photoshoot for Bahrain was held yesterday as part of media days for the participating national teams. The session featured all 26 of the kingdom’s players along with the national team’s officials. The images will be used in various media materials during the competition.
Also yesterday, the Bahrainis took part in a refereeing lecture set up by the 27th Gulf Cup’s organising committee, under the supervision of the Gulf Football Federation (GFF) referees committee.
The talk was presented by Bahrain Football Association referees committee head Ali Al Samaheeji, who is a member of the GFF’s referees committee.
Al Samaheeji covered the latest updates to the laws of the game as the nationals prepare for their highly anticipated title-defence.
Bahrain are in Group B for the tournament’s preliminary round alongside Qatar, the UAE, and Yemen. Group A is composed of Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, and hosts Saudi.
Bahrain play their first match against their Qatari counterparts on Thursday, scheduled for a 9pm kick-off, Bahrain time, at Jeddah’s Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
Following their opener, the Bahrainis then face off with the UAE in their next assignment on Sunday next week, also at 9pm, after which they complete this stage against Yemen on September 30, kicking off at 8.30pm. Both times are Bahrain.
Tomorrow, as part of the 27th Gulf Cup’s opening night, Iraq take on Oman followed by Kuwait going up against hosts Saudi.
The nationals will be hoping to finish amongst their group’s top two in order to advance to the semi-finals, slated for October 3. The final will then be held on October 6 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
Tickets for the tournament can be purchased via the GFF’s official ticketing website the-gff.com/tickets and through the GFF Tickets app.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh