FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN head coach Dragan Talajic defended his players last night and took full responsibility for their 0-5 loss to Japan in Fifa World Cup 2026 qualifying.
The Croatian tactician apologised to the kingdom’s fans, who flocked to the National Stadium to support the senior men’s squad against their heavily favoured rivals, who are Asia’s top-ranked side.
Talajic vowed that they will bounce back from the heavy defeat and will learn from their mistakes.
“Congratulations to Japan,” Talajic said during his post-game Press conference. “They played an excellent game. They won against us and made us learn from this. They deserved to win. They were the better team tonight.
“My apologies to the Bahrain supporters who came to cheer for us. We have disappointed them in this game. But this is just the start of this qualification round – let us not forget that this is a marathon and not a 100-metre race.
“The first half went quite well, but of course Japan had control. After they scored the penalty, it shook our boys a little bit. After that, we conceded the second goal to start the second half, and that was unbelievable and completely everything was destroyed.
“I am really sorry for this kind of result – really, it is too much. I am the first to be disappointed.”
Talajic called on the people to not lose faith in the national team. “We need your support for our boys,” he stressed. “We know it is a very hard moment, but they do not deserve to be put down. They are good boys and a good team. I take full responsibility for this one.”
The 59-year-old noted that coming away with three points from their first two games against powerhouse teams like Australia and Japan – who he has dubbed as the group’s favourites – is a positive.
“I am satisfied with the first two games,” he said. “We will learn from this loss – of course, it is painful, but we will learn and we will fight for our position.
“This is the third round of World Cup qualification; every single team deserves to be here. We do not expect any easy games. Today we disappointed the fans and I say sorry, but look at the table. We have three points from Australia and Japan.
“All teams are excellent. The job is not finished in two games. We will learn and we will fight.”
Meanwhile, Japan head coach Hajime Moriyasu said in his own Press conference: “Both teams fought very hard. I am happy we gained the victory.
“I express my gratitude for the Bahrain team for fighting till the end. It was a difficult first half – Bahrain had chances to score, and if they did, it could have been a very different game.
“I did think it would be a tighter match, but we manage to play well.”
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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