FOOTBALL – Bahrain’s senior men’s football national team kicked off their preparations last night for their much-anticipated title-defence in the 27th Gulf Cup.
The kingdom’s squad came together at the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) pitches in Riffa for the first evening of their local training gathering, supervised by head coach Dragan Talajic and his staff.
Talajic welcomed a majority of his call-ups, who make up a preliminary list of players who will be hard at work over the next few days before a final roster of 26 is announced on Thursday for this year’s Gulf Cup, dubbed ‘Khaleeji 27’.
The eight-nation regional tournament is scheduled to be played from September 23 to October 6 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with Bahrain carrying the tag of defending champions.
Talajic’s initial list of internationals announced by the BFA on Saturday featured 37 names, but the Croatian tactician added yesterday junior men’s national team striker Ali Mahran, who impressed in the recently held AFC U20 Asian Cup qualifiers.
The Bahrainis are spearheaded by top stars Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Ali Madan, Mahdi Humaidan, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Abdulla Alkhalasi, Waleed Al Hayyam, and popular goalkeeper Ebrahim Luthfallah, while the rest of the national team is composed of Mahran, Jassim Al Shaikh, Abbas Al Asfoor, Hamad Shamsan, Ahmed Bughammar, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ahmed Rabea, Hassan Alkarani, Saleh Alzubaidi, Omar Saber, Vincent Emmanuel, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Hashem Sayed Issa, Mohammed Alrumaihi, Ahmed Dhiya, Ebrahim Alkhattal, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Khaled Al Khalaf, Bader Alasam, Hussain Zuhair, Abdulrahman Bassam, Ali Hussain, Ali Aldoseri, Adam Fareed, Abdulla Osama, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaie, and goalkeepers Godwill Chia Ndang, Omar Salem, and Mohammed Elgharably.
Last night’s training session consisted of light ball work after warm-up and stretching, while the players who took to the pitch on Saturday night in the 2026-27 Nasser bin Hamad Bahrain Premier Football League underwent recovery exercises.
Marhoon, along with Bahrain’s talents from Muharraq and Al Khaldiya, are not yet with the team due to their clubs’ upcoming games tomorrow and Wednesday in the AFC Champions League Two.
This Friday, the nationals are scheduled to enter a local camp at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel, Residence and Spa.
They are then scheduled to depart for Jeddah on Sunday next week for their final lead-up to the Gulf Cup.
Bahrain are set to play in Group B in the preliminary round alongside Qatar, the UAE, and Yemen, while Group A is composed of Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, and hosts Saudi.
The nationals kick off their repeat-title bid against Qatar on September 24, scheduled for a 9pm kick-off.
The Bahrainis then face off with the UAE on September 27, also at 9pm, before completing this stage against Yemen on September 30, kicking off at 8.30pm.
All times are Bahrain, and all three games will be played at Jeddah’s Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
The Bahrainis will be hoping to finish amongst their group’s top two to advance to the semi-finals, slated for October 3.
The final will then be held on October 6 at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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