Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
History has an uncanny way of repeating itself. The Bahrain national soccer team will learn more about it this evening when they clash with Uzbekistan at the National Stadium in Riffa in the concluding match of their group for a berth in the 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa.
It's going to be a humdinger of a clash with so much at stake, so little room for error and history beckoning both the sides. For Bahrain in particular, it's going to be the most important match and a victory can be a soothing balm to ease the pains of recent setbacks in various sports - both on and off the field - including a doping controversy and a failed attempt to win a seat on the FIFA executive committee.
A victory for Bahrain can also keep the dream of playing in the showpiece soccer event alive. The last time around, Bahrain had come agonisingly close to making it before losing out to Trinidad &0 Tobago in the final play-off at the same National Stadium. It was a defeat that had plunged the kingdom into mourning and those bitter memories still make many hearts bleed.
This time around, Bahrain is still one step away from reaching that stage and many are already reminding us of the famous saying that those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
The case-scenario in front of coach Milan Macala's team is quite simple. A draw is enough for Bahrain to finish third in Group 'A' of these protracted Asian qualifiers and thus make it to a playoff with the team finishing third in Group 'B'. The two will clash in another playoff and the winner will then take on New Zealand, the Occeana Zone winner, in a final playoff. The winner of that match will ultimately qualify to play in the 2010 World Cup.
It is here that history is repeating itself, but with an interesting twist. Four years ago, Bahrain finished third in the final qualifying round and coincidentally clashed with Uzbekistan in a play-off. The coach of the present Uzbekistan team Mirdjalal Kasimov was then the captain of his national team.
Bahrain drew 1-1 away and 0-0 at home to clinch the playoff on the away goal rule. Then in the final playoff against Trinidad & Tobago, Bahrain again drew 1-1 away in the wee hours (Bahrain time) on that glorious day that many fans believed was a new dawn. But then in the return clash, with the whole kingdom on a knife's edge, the national team lost a scrappy encounter that ended amid chaos.
Misguided and misinformed elements sparked riots and an overexcited editor of a national daily even called for a rematch in a banner headline in the next day's newspaper. But, for those who understood sport and its twin imposters - defeat and victory; and joy and sorrow - it was simply the end of the road of an ambitious journey and for the more poetic-minded - an end of a dream.
Since then, Bahrain has embarked on yet another painfully long journey, endured as much pain as joy, experienced victories, defeats and draws and are now on the threshold of repeating history.
But the task ahead is not simple. A draw may be enough to go into a play-off as Bahrain are on seven points right now compared to Uzbekistan's four, but a defeat by even a solitary goal can turn the tables because of the present goal difference between the two sides. Bahrain are -3 compared to Uzbekistan's -4.
This could easily interchange and leave the Gulf state by the wayside and open the doors for Uzbekistan. So fragile and flexible are the numbers at this stage.
Bahrain may have the home advantage and a psychological edge as well as they won the away fixture 1-0, but the hosts cannot afford to be casual or complacent. The return of talismanic striker Ala'a Hubail has certainly strengthened the team which is thankfully free of injury or any suspension worries.
Many hearts are bound to miss a beat or two this evening. In the meantime, here's something to chew on - "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce," Karl Marx once famously said. But someone also said: "History repeats itself. Historians repeat each other."
All the best, Bahrain!
