Bahrain squad named for latest training camp

TDT | Manama                          

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa has called up 24 players for the next training camp of the senior men’s national football team. The squad will be kicking off their practices tomorrow and will later this month take to the pitch for a pair of international friendlies against top global opposition. The roster features two of Bahrain’s overseas-based stars, including Ali Madan from Ajman FC in the UAE and Abdulla Yusuf from Persija Jakarta in Indonesia.

They are joined by seven of Sousa’s call-ups from national champions Riffa, five from AFC Cup title holders Muharraq, three each from Al Khaldiya, Manama and East Riffa, and one from Al Ahli. Those players include a number of senior squad mainstays, such as Komail Al Aswad, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Ali Haram, Abdulwahab Al Malood, Sayed Mohammed Jaafar, Mahdi Humaidan and Sayed Dhiya Saeed, to name a few.

Ahead of tomorrow’s start to training, Sousa met with Bahrain Football Association (BFA) president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and BFA vice-president His Highness Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Khalifa. They discussed the national team’s programme for the next phase, and reviewed the team’s needs.

Friendlies

The Kingdom’s squad will lock horns with Cape Verde on September 23 and then face off with Panama on September 27 in their two tune-up games during their camp. Both games will be played at the National Stadium in Riffa, kicking off at 7pm each time. The friendlies are the second and third warm-up games scheduled by the BFA for the senior men’s team. They have added to the game Bahrain will be playing against FIFA World Cup 2022 participants Serbia on November 18, also at home.

The matches are part of the Bahrainis’ preparations for their upcoming tournaments, which include their much-awaited title defence in the Gulf Cup, which will take place in January of next year. The nationals are also set to compete in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 in June.

Both Cape Verde and Panama are classified above Bahrain in the FIFA World Ranking. Cape Verde are in the Confederation of African Football, and they are currently 72nd in the world. Panama, in the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), are ranked 61st in the world.

For Serbia, their game with Bahrain will be leading up to their campaign in the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, where they have been drawn in Group G for the first round alongside Brazil, Switzerland and Cameroon. The upcoming Gulf Cup is scheduled to take place in Basra, Iraq, from January 6 to 19. It will be the 25th edition of the prestigious competition. Bahrain won the last event which took place in 2019, held in Doha. It was the first Gulf Cup title for the Kingdom.