Alaswad fires in winner for Bahrain

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Komail Alaswad scored the winning goal in Bahrain’s 1-0 victory over Burundi last night in an international friendly match played at the Muharraq Club Stadium in Arad. Alaswad came on as a substitute and was on target with about a quarter-hour remaining in regular time. His strike was enough to separate the two sides and give Bahrain back-to-back wins in their tune-up games during their current local training gathering.

They had previously beaten India 2-1. The nationals take to the field once more against international opposition on Tuesday, when they go up against Belarus. The Belarusians were also in action yesterday. They won 3-0 against their Indian counterparts in a match played at the Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town. This week’s upcoming contest between Bahrain and Belarus will be held at Khalifa Sports City. Bahrain are using these friendlies in preparation for their upcoming campaign in the third round of qualification for the AFC Asian Cup 2023.

In their win last night, the two sides headed into the locker rooms deadlocked with neither team able to break the deadlock before the half-time break. But the hosts continued to press, and were finally rewarded in the 76th minute with Alaswad’s goal. The influential midfielder received a long pass from Abdulla Yusuf behind the defenders and then scored with a single touch. Meanwhile, in the other international friendly played in the Kingdom yesterday, Belarus scored all three of their goals in the second half.

The Europeans first found the target in the 48th minute when Artyom Bykov scored with a left-footed effort in the box. Twenty minutes later, Andrey Solovey made it 2-0 with a goal in the face of goal, and then Valery Gromyko applied the final nail in the coffin with Belarus’ third in the first minute of second-half stoppage time. Bahrain are in Group E for the third round of AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualification alongside Turkmenistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

Their qualifying matches are scheduled to be played in June in the chosen centralised venue of Kuala Lumpur. The AFC Asian Cup is scheduled to kick off on June 16 next year in China. Bahrain are looking to secure their seventh appearance in the tournament proper. They first appeared in 1988, and have qualified for the last five tournaments in 2004, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. The Bahrainis’ best finish in the competition was fourth in 2004. They reached the last 16 in 2019, but did not make it past the group stage the other times.