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MIGHTY minnows Al Malkiya Club took the scalp of champions Al Riffa Club at the weekend’s opening VIVA Bahrain Premier League fixture to continue on a fairy-tale footballing adventure.
The side, mostly made up of players from the coastal village with a couple of foreign imports, stamped their mark with a dramatic 3-0 victory at Muharraq Stadium.
The result may have surprised many pundits but as far as new head coach Abdul Ali Abdul Rasool Al Sakri is concerned, the sky is the limit.
Al Malkiya only gained a spot in the kingdom’s 10-strong top division after a gruelling two-legged victory over fallen giants and former champions Al Ahli Club in a dramatic end-of-season relegation/promotion play-off. Having lost the first game away 2-0 they walloped their over-confident opponents 4-0 in the return fixture.
Last weekend’s goal-scoring heroes were defender Hassan Khamis, striker Ali Sayed Isa and midfielder Ali Saeed. Coach Al Sakri said: ìThe opening match is one of the biggest games of the season and we expected everybody would be watching us.
ìNobody would have paid us any attention as a Second Division team and we knew that this season would be a lot different and we were ready for it.
ìWe aimed to deliver and we walked onto the pitch with a winning attitude. We thought like winners and we ended up winning.
ìEveryone kept telling me that it was such a surprise when we won. But we still have a lot of work to do and will not let this one victory go to our heads.î
Ironically, coach Al Sakri, an employee at the Ministry of Electricity and Water, had spent the past 20 years as an assistant coach at the ailing Al Ahli Club.
He said: ìI will always love Al Ahli Club and I was really sad when they were no longer in the top division. However, this was too great an opportunity for me to miss. I could see what a well-rounded team Al Malkiya were and my goal is to keep them in the First Division.
ìI have seen the spirit and passion in this side. They have a love for their club, their village and the game. They have the drive and determination to win.î
The squad is made up of players aged between 19 and 34, mostly locals from Malkiya which lies on the western coast and is littered by the remnants of regular protests, including the ashes of burning tyres and garbage bins.
The players might be from a small village with limited facilities but what they lack in equipment they make up in heart, according to Coach Al Sakri. He says he was astonished to find a community full of players showing plenty of potential as they ‘lived and breathed’ the sport and the football pitch appeared to be the centre-piece attraction of the village.
He added: ìIn the one month I have been with them I can honestly say that this village loves the game whole-heartedly and you can catch most of the young boys playing on empty dirt grounds on the sides of the roads. This is the only sport they think of. Also, the players appear to have a natural physical build essential for playing football.
ìWe do not have the facilities other big clubs might have but we make do – the players train six-times-a-week, taking Friday off to rest.î
Bigger clubs have been eyeing the squad and Al Malkiya’s star striker Ahmed Yousef has already moved to rivals Al Shabab Club. Also, defender Hassan Al Bari, who gained further experience playing a few games for Al Riffa Club last season, is also being regularly monitored by visiting scouts.
Bahrain’s national team coach Peter Taylor has also been spotted keeping tabs on the side’s rising stars as he prepares the national squad for its upcoming Gulf Cup challenge.
At the moment the club’s coach is concentrating on the challenges ahead.
He added: ìWe have some really strong players such as captain Sayed Hassan Isa nicknamed Hamama (pigeon). He is one of the oldest players and most experienced. He is currently injured but his brother Ali Sayed is a great striker.
ìWe also have a really good keeper, Jaffar, and defender Sayed Hashim Adnan, who is the brother of Sayed Mohammed Adnan, the former Bahrain national team player who last season played for Australian League champions, Brisbane Roar.
ìHashim is even taller than his brother and has plenty of potential. I could see him following in his brother’s footsteps and am constantly telling him that if he wants to reach the top level he needs to show a similar drive and ambition.î
Al Malkiya face Bahrain Club on Saturday, again at Muharraq Stadium, at 6pm, as the dream continues.
