Bahrain head to play Hong Kong

Bahrain’s senior men’s national football team departed yesterday for Hong Kong for their World Cup and Asian Cup joint-qualifier on Thursday. The delegation was headed by Bahrain Football Association board member Mohammed Al Hammadi.

Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa was joined by his coaching and administrative staff, along with the players who included Jassim Al Shaikh, Mahdi Humaidan, Hamad Aldossari, Ahmed Bugammar, Mohammed Abdulwahab, Abdulwahab Almalood, Rashed Alhooti, Sayed Mohammed Jaffar, Waleed Alhayam, Mohammed Al Hardan, Ismaeel Abdullatif, Ali Madan, Sayed Shubbar Alawi, Sayed Redha Isa, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Ali Haram, Komail Alaswad, Abdulla Alhazza, Mohammed Alromaihi, Ahmed Nabeel, Mohammed Adel and Sayed Dhiya Saeed.

Striker Abdulla Yusuf, who plays in Europe with Czech outfit Slavia Prague, is scheduled to join the team directly in Hong Kong. The Bahrainis are set to take on Hong Kong in an away match Thursday scheduled for a 3pm kick-off, Bahrain time. After that game, they will travel to Amman to play another qualifier on November 19 against Iraq.

The Bahrainis had been training in Bahrain over the past week and a half prior to their flight out to Hong Kong. Bahrain are in Group C of the qualifiers for the World Cup and Asian Cup. Iraq currently tops the group with seven points, leading Bahrain on goal difference, while Iran holds third spot with six points. Hong Kong and Cambodia each have one point.