Gulf Cup action kicks off today
TDT | Manama
The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain’s senior men’s national football team is a day away from kicking off their much-awaited title-defence in the 25th Gulf Cup, being held in Basra, Iraq.
The prestigious regional competition gets underway today, but the Bahrainis play their first game tomorrow against the UAE at 4.15pm, Bahrain time. As part of the lead-up to the start of play, representatives from the eight participating national teams took part in the official pre-competition technical meeting.
National team administrator Yahya and media coordinator Mohammed Abdulghaffar were present, and they presented the national team’s kits for each of their three preliminary round matches.
Bahrain are in Group B for the opening stage, along with the Emiratis, Qatar who they face on 10 January, and Kuwait who they play on 13 January. Group A features hosts Iraq, Oman, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
The top two teams at the end of a single round-robin move on to the semi-finals, scheduled for 16 January. The final will then be held on 19 January. Bahrain have a 23-member squad in Basra.
The players include Ali Madan (Al Ajman FC, UAE); Abdulla Yusuf (Persija Jakarta, Indonesia); Ali Haram, Hamad Shamsan, Jassim Al Shaikh, Komail Alaswad, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon and Sayed Redha Isa (Riffa); Abdulla Alkhalasi, Abdulwahab Al Malood, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Amine Hasan, Sayed Mohammed Jaafar and Waleed Al Hayam (Muharraq); Ahmed Bughammar, Mahdi Humaidan, Mohammed Adel and Sayed Dhiya Saeed (Al Khaldiya); Ebrahim Al Khattal and Mahdi Abdullatif (Manama); Ebrahim Lutfallah (Al Ahli); Omar Salem (Budaiya); Hamza Adrees (East Riffa).
The nationals continued their final preparations yesterday with a morning session in the gym and an on-the-pitch practice in the evening. Head coach Helio Sousa will have the final training tonight, and in the morning will take part in the Group B coaches’ pre-tournament Press conference.
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