FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN’S senior men’s football national team arrived last night in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ahead of their much-anticipated title-defence in the 27th Gulf Cup.
The kingdom’s representatives travelled with a delegation headed by Bahrain Football Association board member and national team supervisor Shaikh Ahmed bin Isa Al Khalifa, along with head coach Dragan Talajic and his technical and administrative staff.
The Bahrainis were welcomed upon reaching King Abdulaziz International Airport by officials from the Gulf Football Federation and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.
Bahrain are in Group B for the tournament’s preliminary round alongside Qatar, the UAE, and Yemen. Group A is composed of Iraq, Oman, Kuwait, and hosts Saudi.
The nationals kick off their bid to repeat as champions against the Qataris on Thursday, scheduled for a 9pm kick-off.
This year’s Gulf Cup, also known as ‘Khaleeji 27’, officially gets underway on Wednesday with Iraq taking on Oman and Kuwait facing hosts Saudi.
Talajic has a 26-player squad for the tournament. The roster includes Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Ali Madan, Mahdi Humaidan, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Abdulla Alkhalasi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Amine Benaddi, Jassim Al Shaikh, Abbas Al Asfoor, Hamad Shamsan, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ahmed Rabea, Hassan Alkarani, Omar Saber, Vincent Emmanuel, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Hashem Sayed Issa, Mohammed Alrumaihi, Ebrahim Alkhattal, Mohammed Abdulqayoom, Ali Aldoseri, and goalkeepers Ebrahim Luthfallah, Omar Salem and Mohammed Elgharably.
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