Bahrain qualify for Futsal Asian Cup

TDT| Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain secured their berth in the 2022 AFC Futsal Asian Cup following a 1-0 victory over the UAE in their opening game of the qualification tournament currently being held in the UAE.

Salman Al Mulla scored the winning goal in the second half with a brilliant effort from more than half-way down the playing court.

His strike was enough to claim all three points on their Group B standings. It was the Bahrainis’ first of two qualifying fixtures in Fujairah and the result officially secured their place in the continental showcase, taking place later this year in September in Kuwait.

Following their match against the host Emiratis, Bahrain took on Iraq late last night. Bahrain qualified for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup for the fourth time. They previously secured their places for the 2002, 2018 and 2020 events, with their best finish coming in 2018 when they made it to the quarter-finals.

The Bahrainis are one of seven nations vying for five spots from West Asia in the 2022 AFC Futsal Asian Cup. These sides have been divided into two groups for their qualifiers.

Group A consists of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Oman. After a single round-robin in each division, the top two teams book their tickets to this year’s AFC Futsal Asian Cup.

The third-ranked squads will play in a play-off for the fifth and final spot. The nationals are coached by Brazilian Lino Gomes and they are in the UAE with a 14-player squad, which includes Al Mulla, Sayed Fadhel Radhi, Sayed Mohamed Hameed, Yousef Janahi, Ahmed Abdulnabi, Ahmed Antar, Ali Al Alwani, Amar Mayhad, Falah Abbas, Jassam Saleh Anan, Mohammed Abdulla, Mohammed Al Sindi, Saleh Mohammed, and Hassan Marzouk.

The 2022 AFC Futsal Asian Cup is set to be the 17th edition of the competition. It is held biennially for men’s national teams in Asia.

There will be 16 teams competing in the tournament. Iran are the defending champions, having won the title in the previous edition in 2018. A tournament was also set to be held in 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.