Courtesy: Gulf Daily News


Futsal squad take on Al Hamriya Club

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

BAHRAIN's national futsal team's training camp in Sharjah will conclude today with a friendly match against Al Hamriya Club.

This tune-up game, set to take place at Al Hamriya Club's gym at 6pm (Bahrain time), is part of Bahrain's week-long training camp to prepare for the West Asian Championship.

The West Asian Championship, which also serve as a qualifier for next year's AFC Futsal Championship finals, to be held in the UAE, will be held in Kuwait from December 9 to 16.

Following their match against Al Hamriya, Bahrain's delegation is scheduled to leave Sharjah tomorrow for Kuwait to conduct a final training programme before the start of the championship.


Pleased
Bahrain's coach Ihsan Al Abbasi said he is pleased with the team's progress since the start of the training programme.

He said the friendly matches played against three clubs from the UAE have helped them identify the abilities of each Bahrain team member.

Al Abbasi expressed faith in his players who are in near peak form and should be fully prepared before the tournament's kick-off.

The Bahraini tactician will be relying on some of Bahrain's best futsal players, including Thamer Shamous, Mohammed Darwish, Mahmood Al Sharqawi, Mohammed Al Sharqawi, Bassil Sultan, Yasser Hassan and Mohammed Sultan.

Other players are Ali Saleh, Mohammed Radhi, Hussain Kazerooni and Ali Abdulrasool, Mahmood Marhoon, Khalid Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Satrawi, Hamad Dassas, Jassim Salah, Masaud Saad, Abdurahman Al Ghawi and Ayman Al Abbasi.

In the West Asian Championship, Bahrain will play in a relatively tough Group 'A', which also features Asian Championship finalists Lebanon, Iraq and the UAE.

There are 27 teams for this qualifying competition. They have been divided into four groups of different zones.

Bahrain will kick-start their campaign against Iraq on December 9. Al Abbasi's side will play Lebanon in their second game on December 10 and take on the UAE in their concluding group match on December 11.

Bahrain hope to finish in the top two to qualify for the semi-finals, to be held on December 15. The final is scheduled for December 16.

The top three teams from each of the four zones will qualify for the 16-nation tournament proper along with three direct entrants - defending champions Iran, runners-up Uzbekistan, third-placed Japan and hosts the UAE. As many as 24 countries will take part in the 12th edition of the AFC Futsal Championship.




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