BAHRAIN and Palestine played to a goalless draw last night in an international friendly at the National Stadium in Riffa.
The tune-up was part of both teams’ preparations for their final qualifiers for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup later this month.
Bahrain take on Turkmenistan at home while Palestine travel to Muscat to face off with Gulf side Oman. Both matches will be played on Tuesday next week.
Chances in last night’s friendly affair were few and far between as both sides were solid defensively, keeping each other at bay from any good scoring opportunities on a regular basis.
Bahrain had only a handful of shots on target and the best one came in the 75th minute through second-half substitute Abdulwahab Al Malood.
Al Malood received the ball in the right of the penalty area with a short pass from teammate Ali Madan. Unmarked, he had a wonderful opportunity to fire in from close range, but his ensuing left-footed shot was poorly hit straight to the Palestine goalkeeper and easily collected.
The Bahrainis, coached by veteran Czech manager Miroslav Soukup, also had a nice chance four minutes earlier, but Jamal Rashed shot wide of the target despite having plenty of space just outside the box to produce a better scoring opportunity.
Both Bahrain and Palestine have already secured their berths in the continental showpiece. However, they will still be looking to end their qualifying campaign on a winning note. Both teams are currently atop their groups with the last game remaining.
Victorious
Bahrain are in joint first place in Group ‘E’ after winning 10 points from their first five matches, where they were victorious thrice, drew once and lost the other. Turkmenistan are also on 10 points but Bahrain have a greater goal difference of +8 compared to their +3.
Palestine top Group ‘D’ with 15 points, having won all five of their matches to date.
There are 24 teams in all in the third and final round of Asian Cup qualifying. They have been divided into six groups of four each. Only the top two teams from each group qualify for the competition proper.
Some nations are already in the competition. They include tournament hosts the UAE, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Iran, Syria, Iraq, China, Palestine, Oman, India, Lebanon, Turkmenistan, Jordan, Vietnam and Bahrain.
Next year’s AFC Asian Cup will be the 17th edition of the prestigious annual championship of Asia, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It will be held in the UAE. It will be the second time that the UAE hosts the tournament after the 1996 finals.
Bahrain will be competing in their sixth AFC Asian Cup next year. The Bahrainis last competed in the 2015 edition. Their best-ever finish was fourth overall in 2004.