Road to Asian Cup begins
TDT | Manama
Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com
Bahrain’s women’s national football team begin their bid to reach the AFC Women’s Asian Cup for the first time today at 3:30PM as they face Bangladesh in Yangon, Myanmar. The match is the opening fixture of Group C in the qualifiers, with Bahrain also drawn alongside Turkmenistan and the hosts Myanmar.
It’s a short but important campaign, with only the group winner advancing to next year’s tournament in Australia, which is Asia’s premier women’s football competition.
Tough Build-Up
Bahrain’s preparations have been constrained by time, but head coach Mohammed Adnan remains optimistic about the team’s readiness.
“We hope to put in a strong performance,” said Adnan. “The preparation period went well overall. We played friendlies against the UAE and were later invited for another match against Saudi, which was also a helpful experience for the team. The group we’re in offers a real opportunity for qualification, and we’re going in with that goal in mind.”
“Our preparation was good considering the time,” said forward Hessa Al Isa. “We had two training camps and some trial matches. The results were positive, and we’ve seen real progress. The period was short, but we tried not to rush, we just want to get the most out of it.”
“There’s nothing impossible,” added Al Isa. “We’ve had small matches to build momentum. Now it’s about showing what we can do.”
Experience and Youth
Rawan Al Ali believes the team’s strength lies in its mix of senior players and up-and-coming talents, despite the challenge of competing against better-prepared sides.
“First of all, we’re grateful we even had some time to prepare, even if it wasn’t much,” she said. “Our group isn’t easy. Bangladesh, Turkmenistan, and Myanmar all have more preparation than us. But with the experience we have, and the training we've done, we believe qualification is within reach.”
Al Ali pointed to the balance of experience and youthful energy as a defining feature of this team.
“Some teams are just coming back after years away. For us, it’s about the older players sharing their knowledge, and the younger ones using their energy and speed. Together, they complete each other.”
She concluded with measured confidence: “Maybe we lack experience. But as a squad, and with the support of the whole team behind us, inshAllah , we can do something good.”
One Spot, One Dream
The AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers feature 34 teams split into eight groups, with only the group winners progressing. Bahrain’s group, hosted in Yangon, sees all matches played at Thuwunna Stadium. The team will face Turkmenistan on Wednesday before concluding their campaign next Saturday against Myanmar.
Elsewhere in the qualifiers, teams such as Jordan, Thailand, Vietnam, and North Korea are battling across other groups, but only one winner from each pool will join pre-qualified sides Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China at the main event next March.
This is the 21st edition of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup, and Bahrain are determined to make it their first. Bahrain has never qualified for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup despite participating in qualifiers since 2007.
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