Bahrain head coach Dragan Talajic reiterated yesterday the importance of their next two matches in the third round of Asian qualification for the Fifa World Cup 2026 – beginning with their clash this evening against China.
The Bahrainis host the visiting Chinese at the National Stadium in Riffa in a game scheduled to kick off at 5pm.
The nationals head into the contest currently fourth from six teams in qualifying Group C, making the match even more important in the kingdom’s bid to be a part of football’s biggest global showcase.
“From the first day, I have said that every single game will be very tough and very important for everyone in this group,” Talajic said during his pre-game Press conference. “Everybody knows what we are expecting – a very difficult game.
“We will try to do our best to win tomorrow.”
Bahrain are coming off a goalless stalemate against Saudi Arabia in their previous fixture, while China claimed their first win of this stage against Indonesia in four tries.
Talajic said that his team is ready to step up to the challenge, and gave his players a vote of confidence as they aim to come away with three crucial points.
“We have prepared in the best way,” he said. “I trust all my boys from the first day until now. They have my full support and full trust for tomorrow’s game, and inshaallah we will play good football and inshaallah we will win. We must take the three points, which is most important for us.”
Bahrain defender Hamad Shamsan highlighted that the national team are eager to give their all in this evening’s affair.
“We need to give everything, and like every single game we will play to win – that is what we will do tomorrow,” Shamsan said through an interpreter as he joined Talajic in the pre-game conference.
“We will rely greatly on the fans. We need to see them at the stadium because they will motivate us to bring everything for the game.”
This evening’s clash will be a meeting between the two national teams’ Croatian head coaches, with Talajic’s countryman Branko Ivankovic on the sidelines for China.
Both Bahrain and China held their final training sessions last night at the match venue.
In other divisional matches today, Australia, who Bahrain face on Tuesday next week at home, host Saudi Arabia at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, and Indonesia play Japan at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.
The Australia-Saudi game kicks off at 12.10pm, while the Indonesia-Japan contest begins at 3pm, both Bahrain time.
The Japanese currently top the Group C standings with 10 points, while Australia, Saudi, and Bahrain follow in that order with five points apiece. Indonesia and China complete the table with three points each.
There are three groups in all in this round of continental qualifiers. Group A features Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan, the UAE, Kyrgyzstan and North Korea; while Group B is composed of South Korea, Iraq, Jordan, Oman, Palestine and Kuwait.
The top two finishers from each group will punch their tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2026. The third and fourth-placed squads will compete in a fourth round.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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