the art of winning!

Put your best foot forward and seal your slot in South Africa, says Bahrain's much-loved artist Abbas Al Mousawi.

His latest creation brilliantly captures the spirit of a football crazy nation. Colourful and full of energy, the acrylic painting conveys the warm welcome Bahrain will give the players, management and supporters from New Zealand when they visit the island of goal-den smiles this weekend.

Mind you, there's no way the Kiwis will be taking any goals away with them if our glorious goalkeeper has anything to do with it, amid the rapturous roar Bahrain's players will receive from the fans.

Pointing at the globe that shows the Arabian Gulf on a footballer's boot, Mr Mousawi said: "The world is at our feet. Our team should concentrate on putting this small island of ours once more on to the global stage. Formula One is here in Bahrain and just shows us what we can achieve ... we must now step up to the next level."

An ardent football fan and a former captain of his local football club, Naim-based Al Khulood, Mr Mousawi took up GulfWeekly editor Stan Szecowka's charity challenge to convey the footballing passion of Bahrain on canvas.

Known for his speed as a young midfielder during his playing days, Mr Mousawi picked up his brushes in a stroke and completed the work in time for this week's 'Backing Bahrain's World Cup Bid' special edition.

"Bahrain has displayed a fight to get this far in the competition that we only see in films. The match against Saudi Arabia was like an action movie and had us clinging to our chairs. Despite the fact that we went 2-1 down near the end I always felt in my heart that we could get that all-important equaliser," the artist said. "When it came in the dying seconds of the match you could have heard our cheers throughout the country.

"I remember how disappointing it was when we were knocked out at this stage of the competition four years ago.

"On Saturday, we have a chance to put things right. We are very close and the team needs every encouragement in the world.

"I believe we can win because we never give up. As you can see in the painting, our hearts are big and our doors are always open but we will fiercely protect our goal! I am positive that the sun will be shining on Bahrain."

The original painting, on a 100 x 100cm canvas, blends the sunny desert with the cool landscape of New Zealand with its grazing sheep and rolling hills against the backdrop of Bab Al Bahrain.

Two contrasting islands with one simple goal ... World Cup glory.

BID FOR ABBAS' WORLD CUP SPECIAL PAINTING. THE HIGHEST BID WILL SECURE THE SIGNED, FRAMED ORIGINAL AND ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO THE BAHRAIN THINK PINK BREAST CANCER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN. EMAIL YOUR BID BY SUNDAY AT NOON TO: editor@gulfweekly.com