FOOTBALL – Bahrain's youth men’s football national team bowed out of further title contention last night in the second edition of the U-17 Gulf Cup, currently being played in Doha, Qatar.
The kingdom’s squad were held to a 1-1 draw in their concluding Group A game yesterday to confirm their early exit from the 10-team competition.
Skipper Mohammed Al Jazzaf put the Bahrainis ahead with a brilliant strike in the first half.
He hit a powerful low shot from the left of the penalty box following a pass from the right delivered by Jassim Ben Jamea.
After the break, however, the nationals conceded an equaliser and could not regain the advantage, despite their best efforts.
They had to settle for a share of the points, which was not enough to send them through to the semi-finals.
Bahrain needed to win by three goals or more to leapfrog China on their division’s table and march through.
But they came up short in their bid and finished third in Group A with five points overall.
The UAE advanced as winners of their pool after beating Qatar 2-1 in yesterday’s other fixture.
The Emiratis completed a perfect opening round with their fourth win from as many games and finished on 12 points.
They were followed by China on seven, while below Bahrain were Oman with four and Qatar with zero points.
Group B in the tournament’s preliminary round is composed of defending champions Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, and Egypt.
Their divisional schedule wraps up today, after which the top two teams from each pool march through to the semis, scheduled for Sunday.
The tournament will then conclude with the final on Wednesday next week.