FOOTBALL – Spaniard Felix Sanchez was upbeat and hopeful last night as he was officially introduced as Bahrain’s new senior men’s football national team head coach, beginning what he described as ‘a new chapter’ for the game in the kingdom.
“It’s going to be very challenging, a new chapter, with very high motivation for all of us,” Sanchez said in his opening address during a media conference held at the National Stadium in Riffa, attended by Bahrain Football Association (BFA) president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa.
“We have big goals to achieve and we’re going to work all together to try and reach them,” Sanchez stressed.
“From the first days we started our talks, we were very aligned with the objectives and with the way that we want to do things, so from our side as the new technical staff, we are going to put all our effort into trying to reach our objectives.”
Sanchez signed his contract with the BFA last night alongside Shaikh Ali, in the presence of BFA vice-president Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali bin Isa Al Khalifa, senior men’s national team supervisor Shaikh Ahmed bin Isa Al Khalifa, General Sports Authority CEO Dr Abdulrahman Askar, other high-ranking officials, and members of his technical and administrative teams.
Sanchez is scheduled to begin his tenure with the kingdom’s top-tier squad today as they kick off their first training gathering together.
The nationals are to begin gearing up for the 2026 CFA China Team Zhaoqing International Football Invitational Tournament, set for November 14 to 17 in China, which will be part of their preparations for the AFC Asian Cup 2027, to be held in January and February in Saudi Arabia.
Bahrain also already have an eye focused on the start of the continental qualifiers for the Fifa World Cup 2030, which get underway next year.
Speaking with the GDN after last night’s event, Sanchez said that he will be looking to create a balance between the style of play he is planning to implement and the strengths of Bahrain’s national team players.
“Us coaches, we all have our ideas or concepts, but of course, you need to adapt to the players’ profiles, and from that, you need to balance them with your ideas,” Sanchez told the GDN.
“The players need to play in a position or way that they feel comfortable and where they can give their maximum level. So I think it’s part of our work to make 100 per cent of the performance, and that’s why it’s good for us to start now in November because we can assess them and see what the team needs, and how we can manage to build the way that we want the team to be in the future.”
Sanchez admitted that while maximum effort will be given to win from the get-go, he and his technical team are building for the future, which would take time.
“After Bahrain’s success in the Gulf Cup [in 2025], everyone expected to keep on winning, but to win is always difficult, and sometimes things do not work as you can expect or wish – this is football,” Sanchez said.
“Of course, we are always going to try to compete and to make the people proud of the national team, and to win is the most important thing in football. But the people also need to understand that things take time to work.”
Meanwhile, Shaikh Ahmed expressed his complete confidence in Sanchez and his staff in their ability to turn things around for Bahrain’s senior men’s squad, who have had a recent poor run of form which led to the departure of former head coach Dragan Talajic from Croatia.
The nationals have also dropped to 97th in the Fifa World Rankings – their lowest since 2021.
“It’s a very exciting moment for us, especially after a challenging period where the results have not gone based on what we wanted,” Shaikh Ahmed told the GDN.
“But there is a lot of work and there is a lot of assessment that needs to be done.”
“We looked at a lot of CVs and we wanted success stories – a coach that can build our team, one that knows the region, and who is ambitious to achieve something.
“We believe that our goals and Sanchez’s ambitions are equal and that we can succeed together.
“We are now very hopeful and we are very much looking forward to working hard with him, support him in anything that he needs, especially in these first days.
“Tomorrow we start our training and the days are coming very fast with a lot of things to be done, so we’re really looking forward to working together.”
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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