FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S under-23 Olympic football team salvaged a hard-earned 1-1 draw against their counterparts from Iraq last night in a friendly match played in the Iraqi city of Basra.
Abdulla Al Subaie fired in the equaliser in the fifth minute of second-half injury time to help the Bahrainis come away with the stalemate.
Al Subaie was swarmed by a pair of Iraqi defenders but managed to create some space to set up his game-saving attempt. He then unleashed a low effort that he sent past the opposing goalkeeper to level the score.
The Iraqis had earlier taken the lead in the first half through Karar Ali Hasan, who was on target in the 41st minute. He scored with a stunning header from inside the box off a cross from a set-piece on the left flank.
Bahrain battled hard to get back into the contest and had a number of chances to find the net. Their efforts were finally rewarded with Al Subaie’s late strike.
Last night’s friendly was the second between the two sides during the Bahrainis’ ongoing overseas training camp in Iraq.
The kingdom’s Olympic team had earlier suffered a 0-1 defeat – also following a late goal – to their Iraqi counterparts last weekend in their first meeting.
The Bahrainis are in their camp gearing up for the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, which are scheduled to be held next month. Their campaign in Iraq marks the Olympic team’s second overseas trip this summer, after previously competing in a four-nation tournament in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, last month.
Olympic team head coach Ali Abdulmajeed has 24 players in Basra. They include Al Subaie, skipper Mubarak Mohammed, Issa Abdulla, Ahmed Dhiya, Abdulla Al Qassab, Mohammed Al Shihani, Salman Younes, Bader Al Asam, Abdulla Al Obaidli, Sayed Ahmed Al Wadaie, Mahmood Al Bannai, Abdulrahman Aboud, Rashed Mujiran, Abdulrahman Al Khayyat, Salem Al Dosari, Ali Sahwan, Saad Al Attar, Saud Mohsen, Ali Tarada, Hassan Samir, Khaled Khalaf, and goalkeepers Ashraf Mubarak, Mohammed Khalifa, and Abdulla Freah.
In the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, Bahrain are one of 44 Olympic teams entered. They will be playing in 11 groups, each to be held in a centralised location. At the end of a single round-robin, each group winner and the four best best-ranked runners-up will book their tickets to next year’s competition proper and join hosts Saudi Arabia, who are staging the event for the first time.
Bahrain are in Group H alongside Qatar, India, and Brunei Darussalam. Their games will be played in Doha.
Next year’s AFC U23 Asian Cup will be its seventh edition. Bahrain have qualified for the tournament just once in the past – in the 2020 event held in Bangkok, Thailand.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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