BAHRAIN and hosts Myanmar played to a 1-1 deadlock last night in their second match of the Alpine Cup 2018, being played at Mandalarthiri Stadium in Mandalay.
The tournament is an international friendly competition featuring the under-23 Olympic football teams of Bahrain, Thailand and Myanmar, along with the under-19 national squad of South Korea.
Bahrain is using this tournament as part of their preparations for the upcoming 18th Asian Games, scheduled to take place later this month in Jakarta and Palembang in Indonesia.
Bahrain’s Ahmed Al Sherooqi opened the scoring in the match, finding the net in the 12th minute.
After receiving the ball near the mid-field line, a sprinting Al Sherooqi was unstoppable as he made his way into the box. He made no mistake with his dribble and then hit a precision left-footed shot over the Myanmar goalkeeper to give the Bahrainis the early lead.
Bahrain’s celebrations quickly turned into disappointment, however, as only eight minutes later they gave up an equaliser. Yan Naing Oo was the scorer, pouncing on a loose ball in the box after Bahrain’s goalkeeper failed to collect an earlier shot from close range.
It was the first time Bahrain dropped points in the tournament, after opening their campaign with a win over their Thai counterparts.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s juniors trounced their under-23 opponents from Thailand 4-2 in yesterday’s other match at the Alpine Cup.
Lim Jaehyuk and Um Wonsang were on target twice for the Koreans, while Suttisak posted his own brace for the Thais in defeat.
Following yesterday’s action, the Bahrainis moved into second place overall on the tournament standings with four points, two behind leaders South Korea who have six after winning both their games so far.
The pair face off tomorrow in their last assignments. Bahrain need nothing less than a win in order to take home the tournament title. A draw is enough for the Koreans to win the crown.
Myanmar are third on the table with one point, while Thailand are in last place.
The champions will receive a financial reward of $10,000.
Bahrain head coach Samir ben Chammam has named a 23-player squad for the Alpine Cup. Following their tournament campaign, the team will travel directly to Indonesia for the final lead-up to the start of the men’s football tournament at the Asian Games.
His roster of 23 players comprises Al Sherooqi, Ahmed Saleh, Ahmed Boughammar, Hassan Al-Karani, Hussein Al-Khayyat, Abbas Al-Asfoor, Sayyed Hashem Isa, Sayyed Mohammed Amine, Jassim Khaleef, Yasser Mohammed, Sayyed Ibrahim Alawi, Ali Hassan, Adnan Fawaz, Hassan Madan, Musa’ab Omar, Abdulrahman Bourashid, Abdulaziz Khalid, Youssef Habib, Ammar Mohammed, Abdulaziz Al-Kandari, Abdulrahman Al-Ahmadi, Jassim Nour and Hussein Jameel.