Trinidad Express
Bahrain on the improve
Friday, October 14th 2005
Traditional Middle Eastern under-achievers Bahrain made a promising name for themselves in 2001 when they upset Kuwait to reach the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifying.
From there, they did even better, finishing third behind Saudi Arabia and Iran, but only after drawing and beating the two fancied sides. They continued their rapid footballing growth at the 2002 Arab Cup in Kuwait, where they reached the final only to lose to the Saudis on a golden goal.
However, the team look likely to make waves in both directions. They have performed unexpectedly well against the region's top sides but have also developed a nasty habit of losing to beatable teams. In 2003, they lost to Oman and Iraq and drew with lowly Malaysia.
Regardless, they have certainly established themselves as one of the most improved teams in Asia since the last FIFA World Cup.
Last year saw the Gulf side pull off a series of blistering performances under their wily Croatian coach, reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Cup for the first time in August, and getting to the final round of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.
En route to the Asian Zone qualifying final round, some young talents have burst onto the scene, with A'ala Hubail the most notable new boy. The 22-year-old forward, who sat atop the scoring charts of the 2004 Asian Cup alongside Iran's Ali Karimi, added another five goals to his tally in the second round qualifying campaign to send Bahrain into the rarefied air of the last eight.
Bahrain are ranked 53rd by FIFA in the latest rankings for September 2005.
How they got to playoff:
Finished third in Asia World Cup Qualfiying group two with a record of one win, one draw and four losses; proceeded to play Asia group one third-place finishers Uzbekistan to earn the chance of a play-off for a 2006 World Cup spot against the fourth-place finisher in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualfifying Group Trinidad and Tobago; drew 1-1 away from home, before holding Uzbekistan 0-0 to move forward on the away goal rule.
Bahrain's top players: Sayed Adnan, Husain Ali, Yusuf and Mohamed Hubail.
Coach: Luka Peruzovic(Croatia)
Controversial replay:
The circumstances of their playoff success are controversial at best. Peruzovic's charges may have gone into the tie against Uzebkistan as slight favourites, having beaten the Central Asian team in last year's Asian Cup quarter-finals, but it was the Uzbeks who were the better side in their first-leg meeting on September 3, beating Bahrain, AFC Asian Cup semi-finalists in 2004, by a 1-0 margin. However, that result was declared void by FIFA after the Uzbek authorities appealed to FIFA over a mistake by Japanese referee Toshimitsu Yoshida, who ruled out an Uzbekistan penalty for encroachment and incorrectly awarded Bahrain an indirect free-kick.
The teams eventually replayed the fixture in Tashkent on October 8, with Bahrain drawing first blood through Talal Yusuf's 17th-minute strike and although the hosts equalised within two minutes, that opening goal would ultimately decide the tie.
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