Bahrain bow out of West Asian futsal event

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain came up short in their bid to qualify for the semi-finals of the fourth West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Men’s Futsal Championship last night despite posting a resounding 7-2 victory over the UAE in their final game of the competition’s preliminary round.

The nationals, spearheaded by a Salman Al Mulla brace, scored six goals in the first period and led 7-0 early in the second, before conceding two consolation efforts to their opponents. Bahrain’s win was their first in three tries in Group B of the competition’s preliminary round.

They had previously drawn with Lebanon and Oman, who both advanced to the final four from their division. With last night’s contest, the Bahrainis concluded their campaign in the WAFF event. They did not advance to the knockout stage following unique tournament rules. In the semis, Lebanon take on Kuwait while Oman face off with Saudi Arabia.

The Bahrainis were gifted their opener last night when the UAE’s Khaled Al Muhairi tapped the ball into his own net with just five minutes played. Saleh Ahmed then made it 2-0 with 10 minutes to go in the opening half, and then Al Mulla scored his first just two minutes later.

Bahrain’s fourth was then converted just moments later through Ahmed Antar, who took advantage of an error by the UAE goalkeeper, and then with just under three minutes left before the break Al Mulla fired in his second from close range for a commanding 5-0 advantage.

Bahrain goalkeeper Sayed Mohammed Hameed then added to the score line, sending in a long effort from his own penalty area into an empty UAE net to give the nationals a nearly insurmountable lead heading into period number two.

There, Ammar Ali netted the nationals’ final goal of the game on a one-on-one with the Emirati goalkeeper after stealing away possession. The two consolation strikes for the UAE were supplied by Mohammed Ali and Abdulla Al Falasi.

Bahrain are coached by Brazilian Lino Gomes. Their participation in the WAFF championship was part of their lead-up to AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2022, which takes place this September, also in Kuwait.