I’m a huge football fan (that’s soccer to all you gringos), and over the past 4 years, our national team has stamped their presence on the international stage, playing some unbelievably attractive football… it all started with that crazy German coach Wolfgang Sidka on our way to the 2002 world cup… Ze Wolfman didn’t have much experience with really big teams (he did coach a couple of the smaller teams in the Bundesliga) but he believed in hard work and cooperation. He worked our boys to the ground and got them operating like a team… He took us pretty far, and when we hired Jurcic Srecko (a Croatian coach formerly of Al Ittihad in the UAE), everyone was skeptical… The boss had his work cut out for him: big shoes to fill and a lot of raw talent that needed to be utilized to it’s maximum potential. Srecko did just that and took the foundations that Sidka had established and built a skyscraper on it… He started giving our youngsters a chance like the Hubail brothers (he put his faith in Alaa Hubail as one of our main strikers and the lad didn’t disappoint). The team was pushed during it’s practices and allowed to rest during their breaks, the coach brought a sense of banding together that gave the team added confidence on the field.
The performance of our team on the international stage speaks for itself… making it to the semifinals of the Asian Cup 2004 (losing to the eventual tournament winner in extra time – Japan), & progressing to the final round of playoffs on route to the World Cup 2006 in Germany. Right now, we’ve got the Semifinals to the Gulf Cup in Qatar taking place and we’re up against Oman. A victory would send us to the finals and a chance to win the Cup. I just wanted to take a moment and pay tribute to some of the stars of our national team…
Goal: Ali Hassan of the Muharraq football club has stepped in for Ali Saeed and I have to admit, I like the change. He may be a small fellow, but his reflexes and reaction time is excellent… I do also like the fact that he makes every save seem like it was goal bound (the old Humood Sultan rolling around – know what I mean?). He fills out the goal and when you have the luxury of being able to bring on Ali Saeed (Solid no frills goalkeeper at Al Ahli) in goal, then you’ve got no worries…
Defense: Hussain Ali Baba is the epitome of cool and composed defending… This guy just might be one of the best defenders we’ve produced in years (don’t know why, but he reminds me of a young Alessandro Nesta)… He’s young (early 20s), skillful and accurate with his tackles (although he is prone to the occasional error – but who isn’t), and his passing and distribution is not only impressive but plays a big part in starting out our attacks. During the gulf cup game versus Saudi (3-0 win for us), Hussain was always there stopping Saudi’s attacks, pressuring their forwards with every play and cementing his role on the team… Abdulla Al Marzoogi is our bone crunching tackler, He’s big and tall, always ready for an aerial challenge. His height comes in very handy in corner kicks, and his control on the ball is very reliable. He’s gets the occasional goal and is very passionate when he plays, you always need someone like him on the team. Mohammed Hussain is another reliable, solid defender that comes in with the decisive tackle and never seems to lose his composure. It’s these three players that to me make up our backbone with an excellent understanding between each other and an organized back line that rivals the Italian league…
Midfield: You cannot talk about our midfield without highlighting the impact and importance of our team captain Talal Yousif. This guy is everything and the bag of chips: exceptional passing, good defending, and a knack for scoring decisive goals (who can forget that blast against Syria to tie the game in Damascus). Talal is our captain and he’s taken on the responsibilities fantastically… If I had to compare him to anyone, He’s definitely the Beckham of Bahrain… He’s most dangerous when he drifts in from the left into the center, looks up and takes the shot outside of the 18 yard box, totally catching the goalkeeper off his line.. woooohooooo!!!! The goal is then followed by the best celebratory dance that only Talal can pull off.. top class… Bahrain has recently been playing a 3-5-2 formation with Mahmood Jalal and Mohammed Hubail on the left and right wings. I don’t know enough of Mahmood, but from what I’ve seen, he’s a technical squad player with a good cross… If he keeps up his form, that left wing space is all his… good on ya… Mohammed Hubail is just a pleasure to watch with his mesmerizing runs along the right wing. He tracks back to defend well and just when you think the long ball down right is going for a goal kick, he magically keeps it in to supply a precise cross… I love watching him dart into the box, he’s got a pace and work rate like you couldn’t imagine… Our Fantasista is none other than Mohammed Salmeen… Salmeen can do it all: through balls that slice the defense in half, powerful crosses, quick passing, good ball control and a good shot on goal… He has the potential to actually read the game 5-8 seconds early, and as far as creative midfielders go, his delivery is sublime… The final midfield role is filled up by Either Rashid Al Dosari, Saleh Farhan, or Sayed Mohammed Adnan. Ok I have to admit that I don’t know much about these players (just recently started to properly follow our national team), but the Sayed’s free kick goal against Syria in Damascus was taken perfectly, he’s tall and lanky but has excellent ball control (how did that ball curve into the goal???). Dosari is a regular starter and he does pack a punch, while Farhan has been used as a substitute – one for the future…
Forwards: This is where Bahrain has been exceptional with scoring goals or drawing the defenders letting someone else thump it into the net.. The main two players in this position are Hussain Ali and Alaa Hubail… Hussain Ali, is a powerful center forward that scores goals in all different shapes and sizes: with a quick tap in, or a volley straight into the net, it’s all him… He’s currently plying his trade at Al Rayyan in Qatar and was dislodged from the top scorer title in the Qatar league by none other than: Alaa Hubail (our Wayne Rooney)… Alaa is still very young (early 20s), but he’s been blessed with a talent to put the ball in the back of the net… He’s our young goal-scoring phenomenon and we’ve had a taste and want more… Alaa, is quick and comfortable with the ball constantly terrorizing the opposition… Watching him play just makes the years to come so much more interesting… This kid will be ready for the big leagues of Europe and when they come knocking, he’s going to answer with some thundering goals… Salman Isa is our utility player. He’s comfortable as a left forward, but I’ve seen him play well on the left wing as well… You never really know Salman’s playing until he scores that goal that he managed to create from nothing… Pace and fluid play is what he brings to the table and I want to see more of it… The final member of the team is Daij Nasser… now when you want to talk about the future, this kid is it… He scored the equalizer against Japan leading to extra time. When he received that long ball, his first touch didn’t look good, but then out of nowhere he took a shot on goal and gave us hope… Muharraq have always produced some of the best in Bahrain, and Daij has no fear, he’s ready for anything you throw at him and I’m excited about seeing what else he’s got in his bag of tricks…
This isn’t a comprehensive analysis of the National team; this just the opinion of a fan; I left out where I thought the team could improve cause this isn’t the time to be pointing fingers and yelling at sub-par performances… After our Asian Cup performance, most of the players on our national team immediately got picked up by teams in Qatar and Kuwait, receiving handsome salaries. This can only be a good thing for us (hopefully they’re picking up different styles and tricks from the stars in Qatar: Sonny Anderson, Desailly, Batistuta, BenArabia, Dugarry, the De Boer Brothers, etc.). Our boys in red have played their hearts out for us and we need to stand behind them and show the world what David can do against the Goliath.
Come on Lads!! Hayoo El Bahrain!! Good luck against Oman, and just play your hearts out...
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5 comments:
man they played their hearts out, but left their minds behind I think, especially for the 2nd Omani goal. Pathetic. And where is the team-work and cohesion? Oman trampled us...
Bahrain only play to win when they HAVE to win, otherwise it's a walk in the park.
They did play their hearts out... I didn't feel the midfield connected properly.. it was like the coach was trying to get them to play a 3-5-2 formation, but Oman wasn't giving them any room... I don't understand why the coach took off Hussain Ali (a great striker) and brought on Saleh Farhan (holding midfielder) instead? not to point any fingers, I felt that Mohammed Hussain did get caught out a couple of times. Ali Hassan the goalkeeper was outstanding; and Talal was fouled in the box in the second half, it's just that the ref didn't see (it might be worth mentiontioning that THE REF BEATS HIS WIFE!) All in all I'm grateful for their display and taking us that far... make it up to me on the road to the world cup... oh and Daij Nasser... you need a song... I'm thinking: Daij ba Daij ba wallah dy daij...
"Mohammed Hussain is another reliable, solid defender that comes in with the decisive tackle and never seems to lose his composure" ..I wish that were true yesterday.. I won't blame him alone though, the blame is placed on the shoulders of a whole team that just seemed hungover from the saudi game..
Full credit to the boys for stumbling this far, but there's definitely something missing from the team these days.. they had nothing to lose by diving in on a 40/60 tackle when they were semi-pros, but now they do with all their club careers on the line.. I wouldn't doubt their love for their country, but it brings up the question of whether a more comfortable life (regardless of how short its been so far) has somewhat fattened the formerly hungry lions..
Still in denial myself. I do think the referees robbed us of a spot in the final, penalty claims and all (one of them didn't even understand the concept of offside.. and that foul for the third goal? a FOUL? seriously, man?)..
I must say, Oman out-ran, out-jumped, out-tackled and plain out-played us.. they've improved hugely over the last two years (they were only denied a spot in the second phase of world cup 2006 qualification by virtue of being in the same group as the mighty Japan).. but we really should've siezed this chance..
The last time we beat Saudi prior to this tournament was back in the Gulf Cup 11 in 1992.. a full 12 years from now. We've played 14 games with Oman before yesterday's game, and had won 8 and drawn 6. We shattered the Saudi hoodoo, but let's not forget that Oman broke their Bahraini jinx this year as well.
Maybe its just their year. I hope it turns out to be anyway, they deserve it. Let's chalk this one up to experience and hope we come out stronger because of it.
For breaking my heart yesterday, I won't watch Bahrain play Kuwait on Thursday. It'll take until February and that opening match against Iran in world cup qualifying for these wounds to heal.
Our boys did great... although I would've liked to have seen them go further; I'm looking forward to see what they do on the road to the world cup... we need to place 1st or 2nd to automatically qualify... If we can take full points from at least 2 of our home games and tie with Japan or Iran, I think we might be ok... Even if we come in third then we'll have to play 3rd place in the other group, and if we win that, then we'll have to play someone from Concacaf - maybe honduras or panama or something like that... hey I'll take Concacaf over Uefa any day...
I just hope the lads can keep up the pace... we need to be behind them 110% (I sound like a highschool football coach from west Texas)... in all honesty, we've got a chance to make it to Germany, this is an opportunity of a lifetime.. if they think the money's good know, they should think of how good the money's going to be when they're playing in the big show on the European stage...
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