Bahrain set for Arab Cup U-20

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain have finalised their line-up for the upcoming Arab Cup U-20 2022, which is scheduled to kick off tomorrow in Abha, Saudi Arabia. A 23-player squad has been named for the regional competition, which is set to feature 18 nations in all.

The junior talents called up for the tournament include Sayed Ali Nasser, Abdullatif Humaid, Sayed Jassim Majid, Ramzi Khudair, Salem Al Dossary, Ahmed Dhiya, Mubarak Mohammed, Abdulla Al Khalasi, Issa Abdulla, Abdulla Burashid, Talal Ebrahim, Sayed Mahmood Al Mosawi, Saad Abdulla, Hashem Luay, Mustafa Mohammed, Ali Al Dosari, Abdulla Al Subaie, Mahmood Mohammed, Jawad Ali, Mohammed Hassan, Abdulla Al Ekry, Ashraf Mubarak and Abdulla Jamal.

The team is coached by Adel Alnoaimi, who has been preparing the squad over the past several months. The team recently conducted an overseas training camp in Turkey where they played three friendly matches, which they all won.

The competing teams in the Arab Cup U-20 have been divided into six groups of three for the event’s preliminary round. Bahrain are set to play in Group E alongside Tunisia and Djibouti. Group A features Iraq, Mauritania and hosts Saudi; Group B includes Yemen, Jordan and the UAE; Group C comprises Libya, Lebanon and Algeria; Group D features Somalia, Oman and Egypt; while Group F includes Palestine, Sudan and Morocco. Bahrain open their campaign against Tunisia on Friday before taking on Djibouti on Monday next week. At the end of a single round-robin, the top team from each group along with the two best runners-up march through to the quarter-finals.

Prior to the team’s departure for Abha, they were visited during a local training session by Bahrain Football Association vice-president His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Khalifa. HH Shaikh Khalifa spoke with the players and urged them to give their best effort in the tournament, which will reflect the development of Bahrain football.

HH Shaikh Khalifa added that the Arab Cup U-20 is an important event to help Bahrain gear up ahead for future competitions, including the qualifiers for the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023, which will be held this September 10 to 18.

The nationals are in Group B of the qualification process, with the matches being held in the Kingdom. Joining the nationals in this division are Bhutan, Qatar, Nepal and Bangladesh. There are 44 teams overall in the qualification competition. They have been divided into 10 groups. In each group, teams will play each other once at a centralised venue. The 10 group winners and the five best runners-up will qualify for the final tournament. Group A is to be held in Saudi Arabia, Group C in Laos, Group D in Jordan, Group E in Mongolia, Group F in Indonesia, Group G in Oman, Group H in Iraq, Group I in Tajikistan and Group J in Kyrgyzstan.