Bahrain take on the UAE today in their crucial, last Group B game in the eight-nation fourth West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Men’s Futsal Championship being held in Kuwait.
With just two points from their two drawn games – against Lebanon, who lie second on the table with four points and Oman, also with four points, but who lead the pack because of goal difference – Bahrain need to win the match at all costs, the team’s captain said.
“This game is very important for us,” Mohamed Alsandi told the GDN by phone from Kuwait. “We want to qualify for the second round but, in order to do that, we have to win. And we have to score more than two goals, even if we win, to get ahead on goal difference.”
Bahrain will be wary of the UAE who, having lost both their matches thus far, will be playing for pride, knowing they couldn’t possibly progress to the next stage.
They will also have to contend with the situation they find themselves in. They know they have to beat the UAE and hope that the other match, between Oman and Lebanon which takes place in the evening, ends in a draw.
If the results of the two games turn out as Bahrain would want, they will find themselves level on five points with Oman and Lebanon. Which two teams go into the semi-finals will then be decided on goal difference.
Also, even if they win, Bahrain will have to endure a nervous wait until the end of the Oman-Lebanon match to find out if they will be able to play in the last-four stage.
But, Alsandi said, the team was just focused on playing to win the game and weren’t giving too much thought to factors beyond their control.
“We will play to win,” he said, simply. “And we know that we have to win by a certain margin so we will try our best to do that.”
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