Bahrain’s under-23 Olympic football team salvaged a late 1-1 draw against their counterparts from Syria last night in a four-nation international tournament in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Substitute Issa Abdulla fired in from the penalty spot in the second minute of second-half injury time to give the Bahrainis a share of the points at Dostuk Arena in the village of Besh-Kungey.
Syria skipper Hasan Dahan had earlier put his team ahead in the 69th minute with a brilliant free-kick, but the kingdom’s representatives were able to fight back late on.
Yesterday’s result followed Bahrain’s 0-1 defeat against Oman in their opening fixture last week.
They have one more game to play in the competition. It will be against hosts Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday at Dolen Omurzakov Stadium in Bishkek, scheduled for a 5pm kick-off, Bahrain time.
In yesterday’s other game, the home team and their Omani rivals played to a 1-1 stalemate. Oman and Syria face off in the other match on the tournament’s last day on Wednesday.
In Bahrain’s draw last night, head coach Ali Abdulmajeed fielded a starting 11 that included Abdulla Freah between the posts, Ali Sahwan, Abdulrahman Aboud, Abdulla Al Qassab, Mahmood Al Bannai, Salman Younis, Mubarak Mohammed, Hashem Khulaifat, Mohammed Al Shehani, Abdulla Al Obaidli, and Saud Mohsen.
The two sides finished the opening half goalless, and then the Syrians took the lead in the 69th minute with Dahan’s fine effort. His shot from a few yards outside the box flew past the Bahrain wall and beat Freah to the left of the net.
The Bahrainis tried to fight back and upped the pressure on their opponents. The game was then interrupted briefly in the 87th minute following a malfunction with the stadium’s floodlights, leaving parts of the pitch in darkness.
Moments after the match conditions were restored, Bahrain were awarded their penalty on the stroke of full-time after Abdulrahman Alkhayyat was fouled by Syria’s Hassan Al Mahmood on an aerial challenge. Abdulla stepped forward to take the spot kick, which he coolly sent to the top-right corner.
The Bahrainis are competing in this international tournament as part of their preparations for the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers. They will be one of 44 Olympic teams that are in the qualifying competition this September, in which each of the 11 groups will be held in a different centralised location.
Bahrain are in Group H alongside Qatar, India, and Brunei Darussalam. Their games will be played in Doha.
They need to finish as their group’s winners or be amongst the four best runners-up to book their tickets to the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 and join hosts Saudi Arabia, who are staging the event for the first time.
It will be the seventh edition of the competition. Bahrain have qualified just once in the past – for the 2020 event held in Bangkok, Thailand, where they finished last in Group A during the opening stage.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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