FOOTBALL – A Bahrain squad comprising 27 players departed for Tbilisi, Georgia last night to begin a training camp in Europe over the next week-and-a-half, during which the kingdom’s senior men’s football national team will play two international friendly matches.
The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) announced yesterday the Bahrainis’ final squad list ahead of their travel abroad.
The national team will first take on Georgia’s senior men’s national team on Friday before moving on to Antalya, Türkiye, where they will face off with their counterparts from Syria on Tuesday next week.
The tune-ups highlight their overseas camp as they step up their preparations for two major tournaments – the 27th Gulf Cup in September and October of this year, which they are entering as defending champions, and the AFC Asian Cup 2027, slated for January and February next year.
The senior men’s national team’s roster that will be in Europe includes Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, Ali Madan, Mahdi Humaidan, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Waleed Al Hayyam, Abdulla Alkhalasi, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Saleh Al Zubaidi, Hassan Alkarani, Hashem Sayed Issa, Ebrahim Alkhattal, Ahmed Bughammar, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Ali Al Doseri, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ahmed Rabeea, Ahmed Dhiya, Vincent Emmanuel, Abbas Al Asfoor, Mohammed Al Rumaihi, Sayed Mahdi Sharaf, and Omar Saber, along with goalkeepers Omar Salem, Mohammed Elgharably, Abdulla Efrih Alahmed, and Godwill Chia Ndang.
A number of the call-ups of Bahrain head coach Dragan Talajic did not travel with the national team from the kingdom but will join them directly in Tbilisi after completing their duties with their foreign-based clubs.
Meanwhile, three players who had been training with the nationals locally over the past week were left off the roster due to injury.
They include Amine Benaddi, Hamad Al Shamsan, and Sayed Mahmoud Almosawi.
Bahrain’s match against the host Georgians on Friday will be played at Tbilisi’s Mikheil Maski Stadium and it is scheduled for a 9pm kick-off.
Their contest against Syria next Tuesday will be held at Antalya’s Gloria Sports Arena, set for a 5pm start. Both times are Bahrain.
This year’s Gulf Cup, also known as ‘Khaleeji 27’, is to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Bahrain are in Group B of the preliminary round along with Qatar, the UAE, and Yemen, while Group A is composed of Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, and hosts Saudi.
The Bahrainis open their much-anticipated title-defence against the Qataris on September 24 and then they take on the UAE on September 27.
They then complete their opening stage campaign against Yemen on September 30.
All three games will be held at Jeddah’s Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
Meanwhile, in the AFC Asian Cup 2027, which is to be hosted by three Saudi cities, Bahrain are in Group B for the tournament’s preliminaries along with Uzbekistan, North Korea, and Jordan.
The nationals are scheduled to kick off their tournament on January 8 against the North Koreans at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud University Stadium in Riyadh.
They then face their Jordanian counterparts on January 13 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, before completing the preliminaries against their Uzbek rivals on January 17 at Jeddah’s Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
Bahrain are part of a 24-nation field in the prestigious Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competition. 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.
Bahrain will also be participating in the AFC Asian Cup for the eighth time, including for the seventh straight edition.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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