THE Bahrain Under-19 team last night continued in the inspiring footsteps of their senior team members by booking a berth in the 2020 AFC Under-19 Championship to be held in Uzbekistan next October.
But the path to the finals was not as easy as expected as Bahrain battled to a 1-1 draw against Jordan last night in their third and concluding match in the Group ‘E’ qualifiers at Khalifa Stadium in Isa Town.
Bahrain needed just a draw to qualify for the finals but the general opinion was the hosts would top the group with a third straight victory rather than a tame draw following impressive 3-0 win over Bangladesh in the first match on Wednesday and a 4-0 rout of Bhutan on Friday.
However, last night’s success, celebrated in dramatic fashion on the ground and in the dressing rooms, caps an incredible fortnight of unbelievable sporting success.
The crowning moment was provided by the national handball team when they claimed a berth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics winning a qualifying tournament in Doha.
The national senior football team doubled the joy by beating Iran 1-0 in a key joint qualifiers for the World and Asian Cup.
The BDF team followed suit bagging the soccer title in the World Military Games in China and back home the Bahrain women’s team topped the table in the women’s sports tournament held in Kuwait.
Last night’s draw was enough for Bahrain to top the group with seven points, two wins and a draw, while Jordan, who also remained unbeaten like the hosts, had to be content with five points from a victory and two draws.
Bhutan stunned Bangladesh 2-1 in a mini upset in the other match last night to finish third with their only victory and three points while Bangladesh ended last with a solitary point.
Meanwhile, in Phnom Penh, Malaysia advanced to the finals winning all four games in the Group ‘G’ qualifiers in Cambodia.
In their last match yesterday, Malaysia defeated Thailand 1-0 with midfielder Umar Hakeem scoring the decisive goal in the 84th minute.
A total of 46 teams from across Asia are drawn into 11 groups in the 2020 AFC Under-19 Qualifiers.
The 11 group winners and the four best runners-up qualify for the AFC Under-19 Championship 2020.
If the final tournament hosts win their group or are among the four best runners-up, the fifth best runners-up also qualify, Iraq, Qatar, Tajikistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Myanmar, Vietnam and Indonesia are hosting other qualifying tournaments.
Bahrain finished second in the same event in 1977 and 1986 and are presently looking to qualify for the finals for the 10th time.
The last time the Bahrainis qualified for the final was in 2016 as hosts and they stormed into the quarter-finals and ultimately finished seventh.
Bahrain squad:
Coach: Ismail Karami.
Squad: Salman Adel (goalkeeper). Ahmed Musallam, Hani Taha, Salem Hussein, Abdulrahman Al-Obaidli, Mohammed Abdul Qayyum, Hussein Haruna, Adel Al-Rumaihi, Abdullah Al-Nimr, Sayed Jawad Haidar and Abdulrahman Al-Sayed.
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