FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN head coach Dragan Talajic called on the kingdom’s senior men’s football national team yesterday to forget about their past successes and give their maximum to defend their title in the 27th Gulf Cup.
The Bahrainis kick off their repeat title bid this evening in the eight-nation regional tournament in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
They take on their counterparts from Qatar in their opening Group B fixture at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium. The game is scheduled for a 9pm start, Bahrain time.
“We are coming to the Gulf Cup and we have to forget everything and play the best that we can,” Talajic said yesterday in his pre-game Press conference.
The Croatian tactician encouraged the national team to give their all and make “no excuses”, especially for their scores of fans who are making the trip across King Fahd Causeway for the contest.
“We want to make our people who are coming to watch the game to be happy and to enjoy,” Talajic stressed. “For the fans who are coming, we have to give the best we can.
“No excuses – no hot, no humidity, khalas. Ninety minutes, put blood on the field and make the people to be happy.”
Talajic added that the nationals are heading into the competition with a quiet confidence, but are not counting out the opposition.
“We believe in our chances to defend the title, but the tournament will be extremely difficult, and there are three teams that participated in the last world cup,” he said. “But we have a strong team, we play as a unit, and everyone has a great desire to deliver the best possible performance.
“We respect the Qatari team and know very well that they have players with vast experience. We have studied the opponent thoroughly, and our goal is to achieve the best possible result in the match.”
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s veteran midfielder Sayed Dhiya Saeed highlighted that the nationals are fully focused on their task at hand against Qatar, who are one of the sides that competed in this year’s Fifa World Cup.
“We approach every tournament with a step-by-step mindset, and we seek to deliver our best performance in the opening match,” said Saeed yesterday during the same Press conference.
“We have prepared well to compete in this tournament, and we aim to bring joy to the Bahraini fans, who will be a great source of support for us.”
The nationals held their final training session last night ahead of today’s clash. Following their first assignment, the Bahrainis will face off with the UAE in their next outing on Sunday, also at 9pm. They then complete this preliminary stage against Yemen on Wednesday next week, kicking off at 8.30pm. Both times are Bahrain and the two games will also be played at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium.
Bahrain have a 26-player squad for this year’s Gulf Cup, dubbed ‘Khaleeji 27’. 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.
Also tonight, the UAE face off with Yemen in the other divisional clash, scheduled to get underway at 6.55pm at King Abdullah Sports City.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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