FOOTBALL – Bahrain are ready to fight for every single point in their remaining matches in the third round of Asian qualification for the Fifa World Cup 2026.
This was stressed by star midfielder Mohammed Jassim Marhoon.
The kingdom’s senior men’s football national team resume their bid to make Fifa World Cup history tomorrow when they face Japan in a Group C away fixture at Saitama Stadium 2002.
Marhoon says his team is completely focused on coming away with a positive result against the heavily favoured Japanese, who are looking to be the first time to officially punch their ticket through the continental qualifiers to next year’s showcase.
“Every single match during the World Cup qualifiers is a difficult challenge, whether the match is home or away,” Marhoon was quoted as saying in an interview on fifa.com.
“We learned a lot of lessons from the previous matches in these qualifiers, and now we have to prepare with all our strength for the upcoming games.”
Tomorrow’s match is scheduled for a 1.35pm kick-off, Bahrain time. The Bahrainis will then travel to Jakarta to face Indonesia on Tuesday next week in another crucial affair.
The nationals are scheduled to play their last two qualifiers against Saudi Arabia at home on June 5 and then against China away on June 10.
“Of course, we know that we will play against strong teams and in full stadiums and it is also Ramadan, which makes the games more challenging,” added Marhoon, who took home the Best Player and Top Scorer awards from the kingdom’s title-winning campaign in the 26th Gulf Cup in Kuwait in January.
“Still, we must prepare ourselves fully as the journey to qualify for the World Cup requires us to give everything we have in every match.
“Definitely though, we will fight for every single point to maintain our chances and achieve our dreams, and while we respect all the teams we face, we are not afraid of anyone.”
Bahrain continued their preparations last night on the external fields of the match venue. Head coach Dragan Talajic and his crew focused on ball drills and tactics during training.
The Bahrainis are scheduled to train at the main pitch tonight following the official technical meeting and Talajic’s pre-game Press conference, to be held earlier in the day. Talajic will be joined by fellow-national team star Ali Madan.
Marhoon is hopeful of making Bahrain’s dream a reality and securing their first-ever berth in the Fifa World Cup.
“Qualifying for the World Cup is a dream for every Bahraini, and of course for the players it would be amazing to participate in the tournament,” he said. “We know that we’ve come incredibly close to achieving this goal twice and that just makes this group more determined to keep pushing forward and make that dream a reality.”
Bahrain came close to qualifying for the Fifa World Cup in its 2006 and 2010 editions. For the 2006 tournament, the nationals lost to Trinidad and Tobago in the Concacaf-AFC play-off, while for the 2010 event, the Bahrainis lost to New Zealand in the OFC-AFC play-off. Both times featured different qualifying formats.
The national team roster for their games with Japan and Indonesia includes Marhoon, Komail Al Aswad, Sayed Mohammed Jaafar, 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.
Bahrain lost to Japan 0-5 in their first meeting of this qualifying stage in Bahrain in September of last year.
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