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BAHRAIN must find a way around frequent contest opponents Qatar if they are to secure a path into the finals of the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.
The two nations have drawn three times since Peter Taylor took over the reigns as the kingdom’s head coach and he would love nothing better than for his team to proceed in what is considered one of the global game’s major regional tournaments.
The draw also pits Bahrain against Yemen and Malaysia in Group D and the qualifiers will start in February 2013. Taylor said: “It’s a good draw for us. We are very capable of winning the group but, of course, we will respect the other teams.
“Since I’ve been in Bahrain we have played Qatar three times and drawn every game, so that shows you how close we are. Yemen beat us in an end-of-season competition in Saudi Arabia so we will look forward to showing them we are better than we played then. As for Malaysia, they are attacking and open so that will be a good game too.”
But thoughts of Asian Cup glory will be placed firmly on the back burner as Taylor prepares his side for two other tough cup competitions in Kuwait and on home soil.
The Nationals played a spirited Philippines on Friday in a friendly fixture and last night took on the UAE, and were set, providing he was injury free, to welcome defender Sayed Mohamed Adnan back into the international fold for the first time since his arrest for his involvement in last year’s anti-government protests.
His appearance in the squad shows the world that soccer in Bahrain is above politics and how sport can be a unifying force for good.
Adnan, 29, recently signed a one-year deal worth $500,000 (BD188,000) to play for the Kuwaiti Premier League side, Al Arabi Sporting Club, and will play alongside fellow experienced defender Hussain Ali Baba Mohamed, 30, who plays for league rivals Kuwait SC.
Taylor said: “The two players that play in Kuwait, Baba and Adnan, could not join us until the UAE fixture because they have so many games and had to play on Saturday.”
Last season Adnan enjoyed a sensational time with Australian A-League champions Brisbane Roar.
But he chose not to return to Australia after the off-season break, opting to stay in the Gulf region and citing ‘family reasons’ as the key factor in his decision.
The defender earlier played for the Qatari side, Al Khor, and Bahraini team, Malkiya, where his younger brother is now starring. In 2009 he was the runner-up for the Asian Footballer of the Year Award.
That same year, Adnan had almost given up the game he loved after the kingdom’s football fanatics turned on him for missing a crucial penalty against New Zealand in the final round of the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. It left the entire island devastated after losing out on a FIFA World Cup spot at the same hurdle for the second time in a row.
Adnan was shaken and distraught for some time but with the support of his family and friends he overcame the ordeal and worked through it to become a better footballer.
He told GulfWeekly he was ‘happy to be back’.
Adnan joined the Bahrain squad at its recent training camp in Germany. A solid, experienced defence will allow Taylor to confidently continue with his policy of bringing hungry Bahraini young guns through into the national team.
The next challenge will be the seventh West Asian Football Federation Championship, hosted by defending champions Kuwait, which kicks off on December 8 with the final on December 20.
Eleven teams will be competing with Bahrain up against Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen as well as Kuwait.
Shortly afterwards comes the much-anticipated Gulf Cup in Bahrain from January 5 to 18, a trophy the home side would love to secure alongside its first GCC Games accolade and clinching football gold in the 2011 Arab Games in Doha.
