FUTSAL – BAHRAIN’S senior men’s futsal national team are “well-prepared in every aspect” as they kick off their tough qualifying campaign today for the AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2026.
The Bahrainis are in Group B of qualification, being held in Bangkok, Thailand, along with South Korea, Brunei Darussalam, and the host Thais.
The nationals play their opening match against the continental powerhouse South Koreans today at 12.30pm, Bahrain time, at Nonthaburi Stadium.
Bahrain head coach Rafael Fogageiro from Brazil is upbeat ahead of the start of play.
“I believe the team is well-prepared in every aspect,” Fogageiro told the GDN from Thailand. “When players have the necessary information to perform well on the court, the most important psychological factors, such as confidence, become stronger.
“Regarding the physical preparation of our players, we have made great progress in this area, especially in strength and power, with a very well-designed and developed programme by our fitness coach.
“This will be very important since we are going to face very physically strong teams such as South Korea and Thailand.”
Fogageiro says that he expects a very tough challenge against South Korea today, but notes that their clash is only the first of a series of tough tests coming ahead.
“South Korea are a good team – very organised and with a clear game model,” he explained. “They are physically strong and have players who are technically very good. It is a country where futsal is professional, and that makes a big difference for the national team.
“Our preparations started from the very first moment we figured out we were going to play against South Korea. We gathered all possible information about their team and their players and developed our training programme based on the information.
“Additionally, we had eight friendly matches that greatly helped us prepare our team, not only for the game against South Korea, but also for our other opponents in the tournament.”
Fogageiro calls on his players to be mentally tough in their upcoming games and to enjoy the “great honour” of being able to fly the kingdom’s flag in the qualifiers, but adds that it is also “a huge responsibility”.
“The message [to my players] is that we cannot allow our performance to be affected by the pressure of the competition,” Fogageiro highlighted. “We need to keep in mind that [South Korea] is an important match, but it should be played just like all the other games we have played so far.
“Qualification for the Asian Cup must be seen as a natural consequence of a good performance on the court in these three matches.
“I believe that pressure, in this case, is a privilege. Having the opportunity to represent the country in an international competition is a great honour and also a huge responsibility, since we have to deal with the expectations of many people.
“But I understand that our focus must always be on what we can control, which in our case is our preparation and our effort to give our very best on the court.”
Fogageiro participated yesterday in the pre-competition Press conference alongside the other coaches of the national teams in their group. The official technical meeting was also held, attended by Bahrain Football Association futsal committee chairman Raed Baba and other administration members of Bahrain’s futsal national team.
Bahrain have a 14-player squad in Thailand, including Ammar Mihad, Hassan Marzooq, Mohammed Fouad, Ahmed Antar, Hassan Al Jadahasa, Mohammed Al Sindi, Mohammed Abdulla, Hassan Budahoom, Salman Al Mulla, Raouf Al Asfoor, Ali Al Araibi, and goalkeepers Amin Hussain, Sayed Fadhel Mahfouz, and Louay Jaafar.
Following their opening game today, they next take on Thailand on Monday at 3.30pm. The nationals then complete their schedule against Brunei Darussalam on Wednesday next week at 12.30pm. Both times are Bahrain.
The Bahrainis are one of 31 national teams competing in qualifying. The field has been divided into seven groups of four and one group of three. Each division is being held at a centralised location.
The eight group winners and the seven best-ranked runners-up will join hosts Indonesia at next year’s edition of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup, which will be held next year in Jakarta, from January 27 to February 7.
The AFC Futsal Asian Cup 2026 will be the 18th edition of the competition. Bahrain are aiming to be a part of the tournament for the fifth time. They made their debut in the 2002 event, also in Jakarta, while they have also participated in the last three editions held in Chinese Taipei in 2018, in Kuwait in 2022, and in Thailand in 2024. The nationals’ best finish was in 2018 when they made it to the quarter-finals.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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