Bahrain draw with Iraq in futsal qualifier

TDT | Manama  

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain concluded their campaign in the qualification tournament for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2022 with a 1-1 draw against Iraq late Thursday night in Fujairah.

The Bahrainis had already secured their berth in the continental competition set to be held later this year in Kuwait, and battled the Iraqis for the right to claim first place in Group B.

Iraq, who had also already qualified for the Futsal Asian Cup, topped the table with a superior goal difference. Ahmed Abdulnabi Hamad opened the scoring in the match with an eighth-minute strike to put the Iraqis 1-0 ahead.

They held on to that advantage at the break, and Bahrain were only able to equalise nine minutes into the second half. Ahmed Abdulnabi supplied the goal that levelled the scores, earning the Bahrainis a share of the points.

The result followed Bahrain’s 1-0 win over the UAE which assured them of their qualification.

Bahrain will be appearing in 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.

Also going through are the Iraqis, along with Group A sides Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. One final place will be battled out between Group B third-placers UAE and Group A third-placers Oman.

The nationals are coached by Brazilian Lino Gomes and they were in the UAE with a 14-player squad. The talents included Abdulnabi, Salman Al Mulla, Sayed Fadhel Radhi, Sayed Mohamed Hameed, Yousef Janahi, 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.