Bahrain make winning start

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s men’s national futsal team had a winning start last night to their qualification campaign for the 2024 AFC Futsal Asian Cup.

The Bahrainis edged past their counterparts from Timor-Leste 1-0 at Khalifa Sports City Arena in Isa Town.

Salman Al Mulla scored the game’s winning goal late in the second half.

Bahrain and Timor-Leste are in a tough Group F for the qualification competition along with Kuwait and Brunei.

The event features 31 countries in all divided into eight groups for the qualifiers, with each group being hosted at a centralised venue.

In yesterday’s other Group F fixture, the Kuwaitis defeated Brunei 4-2.

The result put Kuwait atop the Group F table following the first matchday. Bahrain return to the playing court tomorrow against Brunei.

They then complete the qualifiers on Wednesday against Kuwait.

In last night’s encounter, both teams could not find the net in the first half and things appeared to be the same with time ticking down in the concluding 20-minute period.

But Al Mulla provided the late heroics for the nationals, scoring with just a minute remaining until full time.

His goal was enough to separate the two sides and give the Bahrainis the full three points.

Bahrain’s Brazilian head coach Rafael Fogageiro has a 14-player squad competing.

The roster includes Al Mulla, Sayed Fadhel Radhi, Sayed Mohammed Hameed, Loay Al Mahfouz, Mohammed Al Sindi, Falah Abbas, Jassam Anan, Saleh Sinjar, Mirza Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Antar, Ahmed Abdulnabi, Hassan Mohammed, Ammar Mihad and Fares Shirin.

After a single round-robin, the eight group winners earn automatic berths in next year’s AFC Futsal Asian Cup along with the seven best-ranked runners-up and the host national team.

Bahrain are aiming to qualify for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup for only the fourth time in the tournament’s history.

The hosts of next year’s event have yet to be determined.

The nationals previously also played in the 2002, 2018 and 2022 tournaments, with their best finish in the 2018 event in Taiwan where they reached the quarter-finals.

The competition also acts as the qualification for the FIFA Futsal World Cup, with five teams from the AFC booking a berth in the global competition, also to be held next year in September and October.