Bahrain claim victory in friendly against Philippines

TDT | Manama    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain edged past the Philippines 1-0 last night in an international friendly match played at Shaikh Ali bin Mohammed Al Khalifa Stadium at Muharraq Club in Arad.

Ebrahim Al Khattal was on target with the game’s lone goal in the first half.

The tune-up was the second of two friendlies played over the past week for the nationals. They had previously defeated Kyrgyzstan 2-0 in an earlier exhibition contest.

The Bahrainis have used the matches as part of their preparations for next month’s start to their continental qualification campaign for the FIFA World Cup 2026.

They will also be competing in the next edition of the AFC Asian Cup in Doha in January of next year. Bahrain head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi fielded a starting 11 yesterday that featured Ebrahim Luthfallah in goal; Amine Hassan, Waleed Al Hayyam and Abdulla Al Khalasi in defence; Mohammed Abdulwahab, Mohammed Al Hardan, Ali Madan, Mohammed Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad and Al Khattal in midfield; and Abdulla Yusuf as the lone striker.

Al Khattal opened the scoring in the 16th minute with a header from close range.

Marhoon supplied the assist—a cross from the right wing—which Al Khattal met on the edge of the six-yard box to head home.

That was enough to put the Bahrainis ahead at the break.

In the second half, Al Khattal almost doubled their advantage with an acrobatic bicycle kick just minutes after the re-start.

Substitutes Mahdi Humaidan and Abdulla Al Hashash also had chances, with Humaidan’s conversion disallowed for an offside infraction.

Al Aswad also had a stoppage-time free-kick tipped over the crossbar by Philippine goalkeeper Neil Ethridge.

Last night’s friendly marked the conclusion of the national team’s latest training gathering under Pizzi.

The Argentinian had called up 33 players for the two friendlies.

The other players included Sayed Mohammed Jaafar, Mohammed Adel, Moses Atede, Ahmed Bughammar, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Hussain Al Ekri, Hazza Ali, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Jassim Al Shaikh, Ali Hassan Saeed, Abdulaziz Khaled, Salem Omar, Hamza Al Juban, Mubarak Mohammed, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Hussain Abdulkareem, Hamad Al Doseri, Salem Hussain, Ebrahim Al Wali and Jassim Khelaif.

For the upcoming FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Bahrain will play directly in the second of five qualification rounds.

They are in a competitive Group H along with the UAE, Yemen and Nepal.

The nationals kick off their campaign against Yemen on 16 November, and then play the UAE on 21 November.

The next match dates will be next year in March and June. For the AFC Asian Cup, Bahrain are in Group E in the tournament’s preliminary round along with South Korea, Malaysia and Jordan.