Pizzi hails unified Bahrain

TDT | Manama                                                     

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi praised the Kingdom’s senior men’s national football team for their “solidarity” as they prepare to face a mammoth task against continental powerhouses Japan in the round of 16 of the AFC Asian Cup.

Speaking following the Bahrainis’ 1-0 win over Jordan on Thursday which secured their historic berth in the competition’s knockouts, Pizzi acknowledged the supreme quality of their opponents, but highlighted that the national team are in high spirits.

“Of course the Japan team is excellent and has experienced players who play in European leagues, but we’re optimistic about our group,” Pizzi was quoted as saying during his postgame Press conference. “We have high morale in our team, we have solidarity amongst us. We have great respect for all the teams.”

Pizzi will be facing Japan for the second successive AFC Asian Cup. In 2019, he was at the helm of the Saudi Arabian national team, who lost 0-1 to the Japanese in that year’s round of 16, eliminating them from further title contention. He will be hoping to avenge that result this time around with Bahrain.

“The Japanese level is very high,” Pizzi said. “They have high individual skills and potential but we have high confidence in our players, their focus and their effort, and hopefully we will be able to qualify.

“For us, all the games are difficult. The group stage was very difficult for us but we were able to compete, win and qualify.” Of Bahrain’s victory against the Jordanians, Pizzi said: “We are very happy to have won and we’re very happy with the performance of our team.

We implemented our plans, we wanted to win and we’ve got the three points. Now we have to recover and think about the next game.” Bahrain advanced to the knockouts as the winners of Group E in the preliminary phase with six points from two wins.

South Korea and Jordan also made it through from their pool, while Malaysia were eliminated.

The Bahrainis’ game against Japan is scheduled to be played on Wednesday next week at Al Thumama Stadium in Doha, with a 2.30pm kick-off, Bahrain time.