Bahrain held by Turkmenistan

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain and Turkmenistan played to a 1-1 stalemate last night in an international friendly match at Dubai Police Club Stadium in the UAE.

Mohammed Marhoon was on target for the nationals, who used the exhibition contest as part of their preparations for their upcoming continental qualifying campaign for the FIFA World Cup 2026, starting this November.

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

The match marked the end of the senior men’s squad’s first training gathering under new head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi.

It included an overseas training camp in Serbia and then two tune-up games in Dubai. In last night’s contest, Marhoon opened Bahrain’s account in the 13th minute but Turkmenistan equalised in the 28th. Neither team could add to the score from there.

Pizzi fielded a starting 11 that featured Abdulkarim Al Fardan in goal along with Amine Hasan, Ahmed Bughammar, Mohammed Adel, Ali Madan, Mohammed Al Hardan, Komail Al Aswad, Marhoon, Mahdi Humaidan, Abdulla Yusuf and Waleed Al Hayyam.

Al Hayyam was given the captain’s armband for the contest, which marked his 100th international appearance for Bahrain.

The Muharraq Club defender joins an exclusive FIFA Century Club for men’s players who have played 100 or more A internationals for their country.

According to the FIFA Century Club list available online, Al Hayyam became the 16th Bahraini player on the list.

The others are Mohammed Hussain, Salman Issa, Sayed Mohammed Jaafar, Mohammed Salmeen, Ismaeel Abdullatif, Hussain Baba, Sayed Mahmood Jalal, Talal Yousef, Husain Ahmed, Rashed Al Dosari, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Abdulla Al Marzooqi, Sayed Mohamed Adnan, Faouzi Aaish and Abdulwahab Al Safi.

Al Hayyam, Saeed and Jaafar are current members of the senior men’s national team. Last night’s friendly draw followed Bahrain’s previous match against Kuwait last week, which they lost 1-3.

Following these games in the Emirates, the nationals will play another two international exhibitions at home next month.

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

Bahrain will play directly in the second of five rounds of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026.

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.