Pizzi calls up Hussain for Dubai training camp

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi yesterday called up Al Shabab Club defender Salem Hussain to join the Kingdom’s senior men’s national football team at their ongoing training camp in Dubai.

Hussain joins a 26-member squad already in the UAE preparing for next week’s AFC Asian Cup.

It is still unclear if Hussain is a part of the team list for the tournament.

The Bahrainis played an international friendly match Saturday night against powerhouses Australia and lost 0-2.

They went directly back to work with a morning training session yesterday supervised by Pizzi.

Bahrain are scheduled to play an informal training match on Wednesday against African side Angola.

They then fly to Doha the following day for their final lead-up to the AFC Asian Cup, which kicks off Friday.

The Bahrainis are in Group E for the competition’s preliminary round along with South Korea, Malaysia and Jordan.

The nationals kick off their campaign against the South Koreans on 15 January at 2.30pm, and then take on their Malaysian counterparts on 20 January at 5.30pm.

They complete the preliminaries against Jordan on 25 January at 2.30pm. All times are Bahrain.

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 thirdplaced teams from the six pools.

Group A features hosts Qatar, China, Tajikistan and Lebanon. Group B includes Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria and India.

Group C is composed of Iran, the UAE, Hong Kong and Palestine. Group D comprises Japan, Indonesia, Iraq and Vietnam. And Group F features Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan and Oman.

Bahrain will be making their seventh appearance in the AFC Asian Cup, 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.