FOOTBALL – Bahrain’s under-23 Olympic football team suffered a late 0-1 defeat to hosts Kyrgyzstan last night in their concluding match of a four-nation international tournament in Bishkek.
Kyrgyzstan skipper Said Datsiev scored the winning goal with a stunning strike in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. He curled in a brilliant effort from a few yards outside the box, which he sent to the top-left corner past Bahrain goalkeeper Abdulla Freah.
Olympic team head coach Ali Abdulmajeed fielded a starting 11 that included Freah, Abdulla Al Qassab, Abdulrahman Aboud, Issa Abdulla, Hashem Khelaifat, Mubarak Mohammed, Khaled Khalaf, Mahmood Al Bannai, Salem Al Doseri, Abdulrahman Al Khayyat, and Mohammed Al Sheehani.
Bahrain’s best chance of the evening was a 74th minute effort by Abdulla, who shot just inches wide of the left post from inside the box.
The loss was the second for the Bahrainis in the competition after suffering a similar defeat to Gulf rivals Oman. They then took a share of the points in a 1-1 stalemate with Syria in their second assignment.
The Olympic team competed in the international tournament as part of their preparations for the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, which are set to take place in September.
They are in Group H alongside Qatar, India, and Brunei Darussalam, with their games to be played in Doha. The Bahrainis will need to finish as one of the 11 group 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.