BAHRAIN drew 0-0 against Singapore in the first game of their 2019 Asia Cup qualifiers at the National Stadium yesterday.
The match was their first game in Group ‘E’ as both teams are hopeful of qualifying for the Asia Cup which will be held in the UAE.
Bahrain coach Miroslav Soukup fielded a lineup consisting of Sayed Jaffar in goal. The defensive line was led by Ahmed Ali, Waleed Al Hayam, Sayed Redha and Ahmed Abdulla. In midfield, Soukup depended on Hesham Mansour, Komail Al Aswad, Ali Habib and Sayed Dhiya with Mohammed Al Rumaihi and Abdulla Helal as the two strikers.
Singapore, who are coached by Sundram Moorthy, played with Hassan Sunny in goal. In defense, Mohammed Faritz, Juma Jantan, Mohammed Shakir, and Daniel Bennett were in charge. Their midfield consisted of Mohammed Izzdin, Mohammed Yasir, Hariss Harun and Mohammed Safuwan with Irfan Fanfi and Khairul Amri playing upfront.
Bahrain started the game in an attacking fashion as they pressured their opponents from the first minute. However, the team found difficulty converting their efforts to real threat chances because of Singapore’s defensive approach.
The first real chance in the game came in from Singapore as they built an organised counter attack which saw them go through Bahrain’s defensive lines.
Singapore’s early substitute, Mohammed Nizam, was on the receiving end of a low cross, but his shot missed the target by inches in the 22nd minute.
Bahrain depended mainly on long balls into Singapore’s penalty box but the latter’s goalkeeper, Sunny, was always on spot to stop Bahrain’s attempts.
Bahrain failed to pose any real threat for the rest of the first half.
In an attempt to increase Bahrain’s attacking threat, Czech coach Soukup sent Ismail Abdullatif into the game replacing Mansour to play with three attackers.
In the 57th minute, Dhiya attempted a shot from distance which was saved by Sunny. Al Rumaihi had an attempt to open the scoring for Bahrain 73 minutes into the game, Abdullatif missed an attempt in front of an open goal before Al Rumaihi missed another opportunity to score through a header minutes later.
As the game went into the dying minutes, Bahrain depended on attacking viciously while Singapore stood strong in defence.
Also in Group ‘E’, Turkmenistan defeated Chinese Taipei 3-1 at the Taipei Municipal Stadium in Taipei.
With the results, Turkmenistan top the table with three points. Bahrain and Singapore sit in second and third place respectively with one point each, while Chinese Taipei sit at the bottom of the table with zero point.
The second game of the group will see Bahrain visit Turkmenistan on June 13, while Singapore will host Chinese Taipei on the same day.