Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
FOOTBALL has been taken to the hearts of sport-loving Americans, so much so that British icon David Beckham is launching a team there and pundits reckon it’s only a matter of time before the country’s home-grown players are crowned FIFA World Cup champions.
They’ve even launched a football club in Bahrain and the U12s played their first game in a tournament staged at the Bahrain Rugby Football Club last weekend.
Despite having award-winning schoolgirl hotshot Maggie Stephens playing for them (she usually turns out in the adult Bahrain Ladies Football League in the colours of Arsenal U21s) the club lost its inaugural matches.
Maggie, who will shortly be leaving the island, received a medal from the organisers for being an ever-present player in tournaments which have often raised money for local good causes.
It is early days for the club and the team, like the US senior side, will grow stronger.
The only question is the use of the word ‘soccer’ in the title. It’s football ... plain and simple. What’s the problem with calling themselves the American Football Club Bahrain?
