Bahrain national team face Turkmenistan in friendly

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s national football team lock horns with their counterparts from Turkmenistan tonight in an international friendly match to be played in Dubai.

The game is scheduled for a 6pm kick-off, Bahrain time, at Dubai Police Club Stadium.

It is the second of two tuneups organised for the nationals in the Emirates. They had previously taken on Kuwait last week in a game they lost 1-3.

The friendlies are part of the Bahrainis’ preparations under head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi for their upcoming continental qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup 2026, starting this November.

They are also gearing up for the next edition of the AFC Asian Cup, to be held in Doha in January of next year.

Following their games in Dubai, the nationals are scheduled to fly home and return to their respective clubs.

They will then reconvene next month when they are also scheduled to play another two international exhibition games at home.

They will first take on Kyrgyzstan on 12 October, and then go up against the Philippines’ men’s national team on 17 October.

There are five rounds in the World Cup qualification format for the AFC, which will have eight teams book their tickets to the global showcase, plus potentially another following an inter-confederation play-off.

Bahrain will play directly in the second round of qualifiers beginning in November.

They have been drawn in a competitive Group H along with the UAE, and either Yemen or Sri Lanka and Nepal or Laos. The nationals kick off their campaign on 16 November against either Yemen or Sri Lanka.

Bahrain’s team in Dubai features Ali Madan, Mohammed Marhoon, Abdulla Yusuf, Mahdi Humaidan, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Ahmed Bughammar, Mohammed Adel, Mohammed Al Hardan, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Hamza Al Juban, Amine Hasan, Hussain Jameel, Sayed Mohammed Jaafar, Sayed Redha Issa, Abdulkarim Al Fardan, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Ahmed Nabeel, Ali Hassan Saeed, Komail Al Aswad, Ali Haram, Jassim Al Shaikh, Talal Al Sherooqi, Abbas Al Asfoor, Ebrahim Luthfallah, Ebrahim Al Khattal and Ahmed Moussa.