Bahrain to play Cape Verde in friendly

TDT | Manama     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain lock horns with Cape Verde tonight in an international friendly football match at the National Stadium in Riffa. The game is scheduled for a 6.30pm kick-off and all are welcome to attend. Entrance is free of charge.

The nationals are using the fixture as part of their preparations for their upcoming tournaments, including their much-awaited title-defence in the Gulf Cup and their participation in the continent’s biggest event, the AFC Asian Cup, both happening next year.

The Bahrainis have been in their local training camp over the past week under head coach Helio Sousa and his staff. The Cape Verde national team, coached by Pedro Leitao Brito who is commonly known as Bubista, have already been in the Kingdom the past few days with a 24-player squad.

The Confederation of African Football side features Marcio da Rosa, Elber Delgado, Dylan Silva, Ianique Tavares ‘Stopira’, Edilson Borges ‘Diney’, Steve Furtado, Dylan Tavares, Logan Costa, Joao Correia, Kelvin Pires ‘Djack’, Jorge Xavier ‘Jojó’, Kenny Rocha, Deroy Duarte, Patrick Andrade, Jamiro Monteiro, Joao Paulo Fernandes, Telmo Arcanjo, Ryan Mendes, Garry Rodrigues, Tiago Correia ‘Bebé’, Gilson Tavares, Bryan Teixeira, Luís Lopes ‘Duk’ and Alessio da Cruz.

Overseas

All their national team players play overseas with clubs from Portugal, Angola, Hungary, Morocco, Bulgaria, France, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Serbia, the US, the UAE, Greece, Spain, Austria, Scotland and Belgium.

Bahrain’s squad features only two foreign-based professionals in Ali Madan and Abdulla Yusuf, who play in the UAE and Indonesia, respectively. The rest of the team is comprised of Ali Haram, Hamad Shamsan, Jassim Al Shaikh, Komail Al Aswad, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Mohammed Al Rumaihi, Sayed Redha Isa, Abdulwahab Al Malood, Amine Hasan, Rashed Al Hooti, Sayed Mohammed Jaafar, Waleed Al Hayam, Mahdi Humaidan, Mohammed Adel, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Ammar Abbas, Ebrahim Al Khattal, Mahdi Abdullatif, Hussain Al Khayyat, Jassim Khelaif, Abdulaziz Mohammed, Ebrahim Luthfallah.

After their Cape Verde friendly, the Bahrainis will also be facing Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) side Panama on Tuesday next week. It will be their second warm-up of this period and it will close out their camp.

The friendlies are the second and third scheduled by the Bahrain Football Association for the senior men’s national 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 upcoming Gulf Cup is scheduled to take place in Basra, Iraq, from January 6 to 19 next year. It will be the 25th edition of the prestigious competition. The Asian Cup 2023 will take place in June and July at a yet-to- be-determined venue.