Bahrain draw with Oman in West Asian futsal

TDT | Manama        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com  

Bahrain played to a 2-2 stalemate with Oman last night in their Group B match of the fourth West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Men’s Futsal Championship, which is currently taking place in Kuwait.

The Bahrainis twice took the lead in the contest with goals from Ammar Ali and Jassam Anan in the opening period, but the Omanis were able to equalise both times. The result gave Bahrain their second successive draw in the tournament ’s preliminary round.

They were previously held by Lebanon 1-1 in their first fixture. The Lebanese beat the UAE 2-1 in the yesterday’s other Group B game.

Oman and Lebanon now top the group table with four points apiece, followed by Bahrain with two points and the UAE with none. The Bahrainis face off with the Emiratis in their final group assignment tomorrow, and must win to have any chance of going through to the semi-finals.

Bahrain opened the scoring early in the first half when Ali fired home from just outside the penalty area. His left-footed strike flew past Oman goal - keeper Hisham Alwahaibi and into the right of the net.

The Omanis, however, equalised three minutes later after the Bahrainis gave away pos[1]session easily. The nationals went ahead once again through Anan, who scored on a quick counter-attack with seven minutes to play in the first period.

He hit a low shot off a fine through pass from Saleh Sanjar. But four minutes prior to half-time, the Omanis were level once again, and they sent the match into the break deadlocked.

The game remained tied throughout the final period. Bahrain missed a golden opportunity to steal the win when, with two minutes to go before the final whistle, Sanjar shot wide of the target on a free-kick.