FOOTBALL – BAHRAIN head coach Dragan Talajic expressed supreme confidence yesterday in the kingdom’s senior men’s football national team’s ahead of their crucial clash with Japan today in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the Fifa World Cup 2026.
Talajic said he is optimistic that his side can come away with a positive result when they go up against continental qualification’s Group C leaders at Saitama Stadium 2002. The match kicks off at 1.35pm, Bahrain time.
The Bahrainis are fighting to stay in contention for a berth in international football’s biggest competition, and will be looking to upset the heavily favoured hosts, who are hoping to become the first team to officially secure their place through qualification in next year’s Fifa World Cup.
“We are coming to play tomorrow – in my opinion, at this moment – the best team in Asia and also one of the best teams in the world,” Talajic said during his pre-match Press conference yesterday.
“During this qualification, Japan have been making a very good road. Already, I think they have qualified for the World Cup.
“That means it will be a very tough game, but we are coming here to win.
“When you have a chance to play against the first team in Asia, it will be sweet to win against them. We will try, but with full respect for the Japan national team.”
Bahrain have some ground to make up on their group table heading into today’s contest. The nationals currently lie in fifth place but are tied with Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and China on six points apiece. The Japanese lead the pool with 16 points, while Australia follow on seven.
Only the top two at the end of this stage book direct berths to next year’s Fifa World Cup.
“Japan already qualified but they need three points more to be mathematically sure,” Talajic said. “I hope, like we say in the Arab word, inshaallah, tomorrow they will not catch the three [points] – they have another three games to catch another three points,” the Croatian added in jest.
“But I have to say, seriously, for the coach of Japan, he is making a beautiful job with the team. You have really good players, and I hope it will be a full stadium – it will be a beautiful atmosphere.
“We want to show also in a nice way what we can play – to play a nice game, to play open football, because we are coming here with only one mind, we need these three points because we want, together with [Japan], to go to the World Cup. But I wish for Japan, in the next three games, nine points.”
Talajic apologised for what he described as being too optimistic ahead of today’s game, but reiterated that this is because of his sincerest belief in Bahrain’s players.
“Maybe my optimism is too much, and maybe it is a surprise for you, but I am optimistic because I have my boys who are real excellent players,” he highlighted. “And you will see tomorrow, we have learned from the first game.
“This World Cup qualification was really a good school for us. Now, we are coming in a position to fight these four games, every single one we will try to win, to follow Japan and go together to the World Cup.”
Bahrain’s previous meeting with Japan’s national team, nicknamed ‘Samurai Blue’, in this stage of the qualifiers saw them suffer a heavy 0-5 loss at home last September, and Talajic noted they learned a lot from that experience.
“I can say only we are prepared and we learned from the first game that we played in Bahrain,” he said. “I have to remind everyone that the first half was 1-0 for Japan from a penalty kick.
“Second half was difficult for us and we learned a lot from that – thanks to Japan national team – but tomorrow we will see what will happen.”
Meanwhile, Bahrain’s star midfielder Ali Madan said that they will “fight until the end”.
“We are going to face a very tough game against the Japan national team, but of course, in modern football, there is nothing impossible,” he said through an interpreter. “I can see from my teammates that we know what we need from this game, so we will fight until the end to get the result that we want.”
Madan highlighted that Bahrain’s recent title triumph in the 26th Gulf Cup earlier this year has had a major impact on the kingdom’s squad.
“The Gulf Cup gave us very big positive things, such as big confidence and bringing all the players closer together,” said the Bahrain number seven, who is a professional player with UAE Pro League side Ajman Club. “Of course, that will push us more and it motivates us to bring more success to our national team.”
When asked about having the match during the holy month of Ramadan, Madan said: “As a Muslim player, we are used to playing in the holy month, if it is in the local leagues or international games, so it is something not new for us.
“It is familiar for us to play in Ramadan, and we have to face every circumstance in our way in this game. We have to give everything to win this game.”
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
&uuid=(email))