FOOTBALL – Bahrain's under-23 Olympic football team posted a resounding 4-2 victory over their counterparts from Bangladesh last night in a friendly match played in the kingdom.
Four different players were on target for the Bahrainis in the contest, which was held at the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) pitches in Riffa.
Khaled Al Khalaf scored the opener for the hosts and then Abdulla Al Subaie added their second.
Skipper Mubarak Mohammed later fired in their third before Abdulla Al Obaidly supplied their fourth goal.
The tune-up was the second between the two Olympic teams over the past week in the kingdom.
They were held as part of both sides’ preparations for the upcoming AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, which are scheduled to be held early next month.
The under-23 nationals, coached by Bahraini tactician Ali Abdulmajeed, are one of 44 Olympic teams entered. They will be playing in 11 groups, each to be held in a centralised location.
Bahrain are in Group H alongside hosts Qatar, India, and Brunei Darussalam, while the Bangladeshis are in Group C with Yemen, Singapore, and hosts Vietnam.
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.
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.
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