FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN kicked off last night the final lead-up to their game against Japan on Thursday in the third round of Asian qualification for the Fifa World Cup 2026.
The nationals held their first training session in Tokyo at the outdoor fields of Saitama Stadium 2002, which will host their upcoming match. The Bahrainis’ practice, held under the supervision of head coach Dragan Talajic and his staff, featured recovery exercises and light ball drills.
Talajic’s 26-member squad is now complete after star midfielder Komail Al Aswad joined them yesterday following club duty.
Speaking after last night’s sessions, Talajic said: “It’s a different time – six hours between Bahrain and Tokyo; also the weather is very cold.
“This first training was for the players to get the feeling and recover a little from travelling. From tomorrow, we will start to prepare final things for the game against Japan.
“Everything is excellent. We have everything that we need. We just need to prepare in a nice way and play a nice game.
“We are coming here to win the game, to show nice football, to play and be happy, and make our kingdom to be proud about us.”
The nationals continue their preparations today at the same venue.
Bahrain’s delegation at the Japanese capital is staying at Hilton Tokyo Hotel, which is approximately half an hour from the match venue.
Their match on Thursday is scheduled for a 1.35pm kick-off, Bahrain time. Following that game, the Bahrainis take on Indonesia on March 25 in Jakarta. They then play their last two qualifiers against Saudi Arabia at home on June 5 and then against China away on June 10.
The national team roster for their next two games includes Al Aswad, Sayed Mohammed Jaafar, Mohammed Jassim Marhoon, Mahdi Abduljabbar, Mahdi Humaidan, Ali Madan, Sayed Dhiya Saeed, Amine Benaddi, Waleed Al Hayyam, Ebrahim Luthfallah, Ismaeel Abdullatif, Mohammed Al Rumaihi, Ali Haram, Sayed Mahdi Baqer, Ahmed Bughammar, Abdulla Al Khalasi, Hazza Ali, Vincent Emmanuel, Jassim Al Shaikh, Hamad Shamsan, Hussain Abdulkarim, Ahmed Al Sherooqi, Ebrahim Al Khattal, Sayed Ahmed Alwadaie, Hussain Al Eker, and Abdulkarim Al Fardan.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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