Bahrain set for friendlies ahead of Asian Cup

TDT | Manama                                                    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s national football team will be playing a pair of friendly matches against top global opponents next month as part of their final lead-up to the AFC Asian Cup, to be held in Doha from 12 January to 10 February.

A team official confirmed yesterday that the nationals will be playing a training game with Angola in Dubai after their previously announced official international tune-up against Australia on 6 January.

The match against the Angolans, who are currently ranked 117th in the world, will be an informal contest with the date still to be confirmed, but to be held before the Bahrainis travel to the Qatari capital for the AFC Asian Cup on either 10 or 11 January.

The nationals will be in the UAE from 2 January for their final preparations for the continental showcase. Bahrain and Australia are among the 24 teams competing in Doha. The tune-up with the Aussies, nicknamed the Socceroos, will pit the nationals against one of the highest-ranked teams in the world, with the Aussies currently being 25th and fourth-best in Asia.

The Bahrainis are currently 86th in the world and 13th in the Asian Football Confederation. The Bahrainis are in Group E for the Asian Cup along with South Korea, Malaysia and Jordan. The nationals kick off their campaign against the South Koreans on 15 January, and then take on their Malaysian counterparts on 20 January.

They complete the preliminary stage against Jordan on 25 January. Bahrain need to finish amongst the top two in their group to automatically advance to the knockout stage, or be one of four of the best-ranked third-placed teams from the six pools.

Bahrain will be making their seventh appearance in the AFC Asian Cup next year, having qualified for the competition’s sixth straight edition. Their first appearance came in 1988, and then also played in 2004, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Their best finish to date was fourth overall in the 2004 tournament held in China.