FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN head coach Dragan Talajic stressed yesterday on the importance of every point still up for the taking in their remaining matches in Asian qualification for the Fifa World Cup 2026.
The nationals have five games left – beginning with Australia tonight – and 15 points to play for in this stage of qualifiers.
They are currently fifth on the six-nation Group C table, but are hoping to catch up with their rivals and close their campaign strong.
Japan are currently atop the table with 13 points, while Australia are tied with Saudi Arabia and China on six points apiece – only a single point ahead of Bahrain. Indonesia complete the standings with just three points.
“From the beginning, since I came here, I said that we will take things game by game, step by step,” Talajic said last night in his pre-match Press conference. “We have another 15 points we will fight for, but we respect all our opponents.
“This is a very difficult group – Australia are one of the best teams in Asia, Saudi Arabia are one of the best teams in Asia, Japan are one of the best teams in the world.
“Most important is to take every single point we can in our remaining games. We will see what will happen.”
Talajic noted that the national team are all geared up for tonight’s clash, which is scheduled for a 9.15pm kick-off at the
National Stadium in Riffa.
Bahrain won their first meeting against the Australians with an historic 1-0 result in the Gold Coast in September, but they are expecting an even tougher challenge this time around.
“We have prepared in the best way for tomorrow’s match against Australia,” Talajic said. “We know it is a big game for us,
and we expect Australia to be at their best.
“We know what we have to do, and I believe in my boys. We have full respect for Australia, but we will play the best we can to get the three points.”
The Croatian tactician noted that Bahrain’s players have put their heat-breaking 0-1 loss to China last week behind them, despite being a tough pill to swallow.
“I watched and analysed our last game, and I did not sleep three nights,” Talajic said. “But this is football – we lost concentration for one second, and we lost the game from it.
“This is qualification for the World Cup – any single mistake will be costly. It was a very difficult result for my boys. But we have this group of people we trust and we believe in, and all of them are mentally strong.”
Veteran defender Sayed Dhiya Saeed said that Bahrain are ready to step up to the challenge as they expect a tough battle with the visiting Australians this evening.
“We knew from the beginning of this phase that there are no easy games,” said the Al Khalidya Club star at last night’s conference. “We know we have to fight for every single point.
“We know Australia have come with a new coach, new ideas, and a new team, so it will be stronger game, and we know we will have to fight.”
Meanwhile, Australia head coach Tony Popovic, who has been in charge for their national team’s last three fixtures, said that they are eager to bounce back from the loss to Bahrain at home.
“We are very well aware of what happened in our last match together – it is clear to us that Bahrain are a good team, and on that day they deserved to beat us,” Popovic said during his pre-match Press conference yesterday. “Tomorrow we have an opportunity to change that.
“We feel that we are now playing good football, and we understand how important this match is. We will show Bahrain the respect they deserve, but we will play with the confidence and belief that we can win. We hope to show it in our performance tomorrow.”
Australia’s Harry Souttar added: “We know what happened in the first match and we respect Bahrain as a team. We will head into tomorrow’s game with a different mindset.”
In other Group C matches today, Indonesia host Saudi at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta while China welcome Japan to Xiamen Egret Stadium in Xiamen. Both fixtures are scheduled for 3pm kick-offs, Bahrain time.
Supreme Council for Youth and Sport first deputy chairman, General Sports Authority (GSA) chairman, and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa visited the national team’s training last night at the National Stadium.
Shaikh Khalid spoke with the players and encouraged them to double their efforts and make the most of homefield advantage in their game tonight against Australia.
Shaikh Khalid was accompanied by Bahrain Football Association vice-president Shaikh Khalifa bin Ali Al Khalifa and GSA CEO Dr Abdulrahman Askar.
‘A fantastic atmosphere’
GDN Media caught up yesterday with a pair of popular Bahrain-based personalities to get their take on tonight’s FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier between the kingdom’s national team and visitors Australia. “I’m very excited for tomorrow night’s game.
It will be the first time the ‘Socceroos’ have come to the kingdom. Living as an expat in the Middle East, we don’t get much of a chance to see our national teams play. It’s going to be a very tight match – each team is in a very difficult spot.
Australia are on six points and Bahrain on five points, so it’s a must-win for both countries. Australia had a nil-nil draw against Saudi Arabia in Melbourne last Thursday and Bahrain, unfortunately, stumbled to a 1-0 loss. It’s going to be a difficult game but I think Australia is just going to nudge Bahrain – maybe a 1-0 win to Australia, just kind of revenge for Bahrain beating us in the first game.
I’m looking forward to a fantastic atmosphere. I know the Bahraini fans will be full of voice, and our small little pocket of Aussies will probably lose our voice cheering, but we all know that we’ll just be happy to enjoy the night. If Australia win, I’m going to make every presenter on Radio Bahrain have a full dessert spoon of Vegemite.”
- Popular Radio Bahrain presenter Shannon Crockett
“Of course I pick Bahrain, my home country, to win tomorrow’s game against Australia.
That would take us a step closer to qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2026. We would love for Bahrain to be for the first time in history to be in the tournament.
It would be great to win tomorrow, and I think we can surprise a lot of countries – something big for a small country like ours.”
- Bahrain’s pioneering hip-hop artist/rapper Hussain Aseem, better known as Flipperachi
Flipperachi Crockett
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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