Bahrain Olympic team salvage late draw

TDT | Manama                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Bahrain’s under-23 Olympic football team played to a 1-1 stalemate with the under-21 side of Estonia in an international friendly match last night played at Hamad Town Stadium.

Substitute Ali Omar Kamel netted a late equaliser for the Bahrainis in the 88th minute of action.

Aleksander Sapovalov, also a sub in the second half, had earlier put Estonia ahead with a penalty in the 61st minute.

The contest was the second of two tune-ups between the two sides over the past week in the Kingdom.

The Bahrainis and Estonians played to a 3-3 draw in their earlier fixture.

The Bahrainis, coached by Dario Basic of Croatia, are using the games to help prepare for their qualifiers to the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2024, which are set to take place later this year.

Basic named a starting 11 last night that included Salman Adel in goal, along with Ahmed Kadhem, Vincent Emmanuel Ani, skipper Hussain Mubarak, Abdulla Ali Alsubaiei, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Ahmed Hassan Kamil, Mustafa Mohammed Salem, Ali Mohammed Redha, Mubarak Mohammed and Khalifa Issa Allafi.

The Olympic team had to play a majority of the match with 10 men, after Mohammed was sent off in only the eighth minute.

Estonia head coach Sander Post started Georg Mattias Lagus in goal, playing alongside Andres Jarve, Sander Alex Liit, captain Tanel Tammik, Danil Kuraksin, Sten Jakob Viidas, Henri Leoke, Tristan Toomas Teevali, Andrei Smirnov, Patrick Genro Veelma and Taaniel Usta.

The Olympic team’s friendlies with Estonia the past week followed two friendly matches last January against their Jordanian counterparts.

They lost 0-1 and drew 1-1 in those two games.

Meanwhile, Bahrain’s senior men’s national team are set to face off with Syria tomorrow night in their own international friendly match. The game is scheduled for a 9.30pm kick-off.

It is the second of two tuneups in a week for the senior squad, having also played Jordan on Saturday. The nationals had lost that game 1-2.

The Bahrainis are using the matches to prepare for their upcoming competitions, including the next edition of the AFC Asian Cup, to be held in January of next year.

The friendly will also mark their latest training gathering under head coach Helio Sousa.