Courtesy: Gulf Daily News


Futsal team leave for West Asia qualifiers

Monday, October 12, 2009

BAHRAIN'S national futsal team left yesterday for Doha to compete in the West Asia qualifiers for the 2010 Asian Futsal Championships.

The qualifying event is scheduled to get underway tomorrow. It will be played at the Al Rayyan Sports Club in the Qatari capital.

Bahrain, who are coached by Gustavo Zloccowick of Brazil, are in group 'A' of the competition along with Lebanon and Qatar. Their division was reduced to just the three teams following the recent withdrawal of Saudi Arabia from the event. Group 'B' features Iraq, Kuwait and Jordan.

Only the top three teams from the competition qualify for the Asian championship, which will take place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and will be held under the supervision of the Asian Football Confederation.

Lebanon are the top seeds heading into the West Asian qualifiers. They are currently eighth in the continental rankings. Qatar are 19th, while Bahrain will be making their international futsal debut in the competition.

Zloccowick, who is most famous for having guided Bahrain to the 2006 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup as well as the Asian title that year, is confident that the kingdom's futsal squad can qualify for Tashkent.

"We must try hard in every game we play, and focus on finishing in the top three," Zloccowick said. "Anything can happen in this tournament."

There are four qualifying competitions for the Asian championship. Just as in the West Asian zone, only the top three teams from the other events move on to the 2010 continental showcase.

Four nations have already pre-qualified for the tournament. They are Iran, Thailand, Japan, and hosts Uzbekistan.

The Iranians, Thais and Japanese have booked their seats based on their top three rankings from last year's Asian championship, while the Uzbeks are in automatically as hosts.






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com