FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN named a 29-player squad yesterday for the latest training period of the senior men’s football national team kicking off later this week, and which will include two international friendly matches in their upcoming European camp in early June.
Croatian head coach Dragan Talajic has called up a roster that is to be spearheaded by Bahrain’s superstar talents including Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, Ali Madan, Mahdi Humaidan, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Amine Benaddi, Waleed Al Hayyam, and Abdulla Alkhalasi, among others.
The rest of Talajic’s list features Sayed Mahmoud Almosawi, Hassan Alkarani, Hashem Sayed Issa, Ebrahim Alkhattal, Ahmed Bughammar, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Saleh Alzubaidi, Ali Al Doseri, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ahmed Rabeea, Ahmed Dhiya, Hamad Al Shamsan, Vincent Emmanuel, Abbas Al Asfoor, Mohammed Al Rumaihi, Sayed Mahdi Sharaf, Omar Saber, and goalkeepers Omar Salem, Mohammed Elgharably, Abdulla Efrih Alahmed, and Godwill Chia Ndang.
The nationals are scheduled to begin their gathering locally on Thursday at the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) pitches in Riffa. They will play a scrimmage match on Monday next week, and then will travel to Tbilisi, Georgia on June 2.
There, they will take to the pitch for a tune-up game against the hosts on June 5. That contest will be held at Mikheil Maski Stadium in the Georgian capital and it is slated for a 9pm kick-off, Bahrain time.
The Bahrainis will then make their way to Antalya, Türkiye, where they will have a friendly against another formidable opponent in Syria on June 9. The contest is to be held at Gloria Sports Arena and it is set for a 5pm kick-off, Bahrain time.
Bahrain are gearing up for a pair of major competitions happening later this year and early next year. The first is the 27th Gulf Cup, which they will be entering as defending champions, scheduled for September 23 to October 6 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The tournament will see the participation of eight teams, including Qatar, Iraq, the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Yemen, hosts Saudi, and Bahrain.
The draw for the event will be taking place this evening in Jeddah, to be hosted by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation.
Talajic will be attending the ceremony along with BFA board member and senior men’s football national team supervisor Shaikh Ahmed bin Isa Al Khalifa and former Bahraini international Ali Saeed, the BFA announced last night.
The Bahrainis won the Gulf Cup’s previous edition held from December of 2024 to January of 2025. It was the kingdom’s second title in tournament history, adding to their historic maiden crown in 2019.
Meanwhile, Bahrain are also looking ahead to playing in the AFC Asian Cup 2027, slated for January 7 to February 5 next year and to be held across three cities in Saudi.
The Bahrainis are part of a 24-nation field in the prestigious Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competition. They have been drawn in a challenging Group B for the continental showcase along with North Korea, Jordan, and Uzbekistan. Group A features Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, and hosts Saudi; Group C includes Iran, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, and China; Group D is composed of Australia, Tajikistan, Iraq, and Singapore; Group E comprises South Korea, the UAE, Vietnam, and either Lebanon or Yemen; and Group F features Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and defending champions Qatar.
The nationals will be participating in the AFC Asian Cup for the eighth time, including for the seventh straight edition.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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