‘Nothing is decided yet’: Sousa

TDT | Manama       

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain head coach Helio Sousa cautioned yesterday that “nothing is decided yet” in their qualification bid for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 as the senior men’s national football team head into their final Group E match against Turkmenistan today.

The nationals won their first two games of the qualifiers against Bangladesh and Malaysia, and are first on their group standings—putting them in prime position to punch their tickets to next year’s continental showcase.

But Sousa stressed that the job is not yet done and the Bahrainis must focus on completing the task and winning their concluding fixture.

“It will be another tough game; nothing is decided yet, we are aware of that,” Sousa said yesterday during his pre-match Press conference.

“We did what we have to do until this moment and, what we can control, we will look to do it in our last game. “We will try every time that we play to win. We know that a draw [against Turkmenistan] will be enough to put us in first in the group and pass directly to the Asian Cup. We have that in mind, but we are preparing ourselves to win as we are going up against a good team.”

Sousa acknowledged that Bahrain were the favourites to qualify from their group heading into the competition, but said that nothing is given and the nationals must still earn their place in the Asian Cup.

“Since we arrived, we were seen for sure as the favourite in our group, but the other teams have shown that every team has a chance to win every game,” Sousa said. “We need to be as sound as we can be every time, and be prepared the best we can to have a chance to win. The teams we play against also have chances, and they know that if they win, they will be fighting for one of the places to go to the Asian Cup.

“Heading into the last game, we have two results in our favour. But we have one more game, and we must finalise the nine points and be first in the group.” Sousa went on to once again compliment his players for the quality they have shown in the qualifiers—particularly due to the varying conditions they have had to face.

“Our players are doing an amazing job,” he said. “In this competition, they have adapted to the different conditions we had in our first two games; they showed the capacity and quality and fantastic work that the Bahrain players are doing.

“They were amazing in facing adversity. We have faced not just rain here, but humidity also; our first game was hot, and then the second more humid and raining. “But we must win one more time—we have that in mind. We are not finished yet; one more game.

“There are three teams fighting to qualify, and we are one of them. We may have the advantage at this moment, but we must get it.”

Meanwhile, striker Abdulla Yusuf mirrored Sousa’s sentiments and said that the Bahrainis are not taking their opponents lightly.

“It will be a different game, a different challenge against Turkmenistan,” Yusuf said.

“We have played many teams, many friendly games, and we are ready for any team. We will put our style of play.” Yusuf added that the players are determined to close out the qualifiers with a win and not settle for just the point they need to secure their Asian Cup berth.

“Before we flew here, we said we need to win all games,” he said. “As our coach said, since he came, whether it’s a friendly game or an official game, we need to win. “We are in a tournament, we need to qualify, and our goal is to win this game.”