Bahrain Name 37 For Gulf Cup Defence

Coach Talajic Gets Khaleeji 27 Preparations Underway

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s senior men’s national football team begin their preparations today for the 27th Arabian Gulf Cup, which will take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from September 23 to October 6.

Head coach Dragan Talajic has named a preliminary 37-man squad, which will train at the Bahrain Football Association’s outdoor pitches as the Croatian assesses his options ahead of Thursday’s final selection.

Sayed Mahdi Baqer returns to the senior set-up, while several youngsters who impressed during the recent AFC U20 Asian Cup qualifiers have been handed opportunities to earn places.

The Reds will not be at full strength immediately; players from Muharraq and Al Khaldiya, along with Kuwait SC midfielder Mohammed Marhoon, will join after completing their AFC Champions League Two commitments.

Following three days of training, the nationals will play a private practice match on Wednesday. The final 26-player squad will be revealed the following day, with the selected players entering a local camp at the Diplomat Radisson Blu Hotel on Friday.

They will complete their preparations in the kingdom with a final session on Saturday before departing for the tournament on September 20.

Bahrain begin their Group B campaign against Qatar on September 24 at 9pm before facing the UAE three days later at the same time. They conclude the preliminary round against Yemen on September 30 at 8.30pm.

All three fixtures will be played at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Sports City Stadium, while the hosts, Iraq, Oman and Kuwait make up Group A. The semi-finals are scheduled for October 3, with the final taking place three days later.

The kingdom’s representatives are seeking a third Gulf crown, having come from behind to defeat Oman 2-1 in the previous final. They will launch that bid in a new Adidas kit after the German company replaced Puma as their official supplier.

Talajic made his ambition clear during an interview with TDT.

“We need to protect our trophy and bring it back home again,” he said. “It will be very difficult.”

His Qatar counterpart Julen Lopetegui has also warned of the threat posed by Bahrain. The Spaniard, a former Real Madrid coach, highlighted Bahrain’s two titles in the past three editions and noted that Al Annabi have won only one of the last 19 meetings between the sides.