We are coming close to some very crucial games against Japan and Iran. I thought it would be interesting to hear your views on our National team and our chances of making it to the World Cup!

http://www.bahrainfootball.org/Bahrainfans.JPG

Bah Vs Japan 3rd June Bahrain Stadium

Bah vs Iran 6th June Iran's Azady St.

Correct me if i'm wrong..

Inshalla we beat them, they won by luck the last 2 times against us. Batelco is really supporting the team, 20,000 free megaphones and I think the federation will give out 25,000 free national team shirts.

The thing I really hate about the AFC is that they and it's soo clear this time, want Japan and South Korea to qualify, especially since their performances aren't as good as before. Just read the latest about their upcoming qualifying matches and you'll know.

Again, allah kareem and if we win and then get a point from Iran and beat N. Korea, Japan needs to draw one match (after Bahrain) and we're through. I assume Iran who only need 4 points and given their performance, will qualify directly.

alah kareem...inshalla we qualify...

Bahraini team has a good chance to win I'm sure we'll win over Japan, cuz its hot and they will suffer in here, but Iran, I can't really say anything untill I get more info preior to the game.

we will win inshalla....

Damn it, i won't be back till the 10th, i'm gonna miss both games...

elmahri...ay 9owb saken fel riffa3?

I am going to see the matches live!

Everyone should also come to watch the matches and support!


WON WON WON BAHRAINI NUMBER ONE!!!!!!

Lucky u obi-wan i envy you!!

Man I think this is one of the strongest teams bahrain has ever had. Does anyone know if Alaa Hubail will be back? He isnt the best player, but he knows how to be in the right place at the right time!! and he had a brilliant season and ended up as one of the top scorers in the qatar league! ANyway with or without out top scorer I still believe we can make it inshAllah.

As for the Japan game well WE HAVE TO WIN IT. ..otherwise we can kiss the world cup goodbye!!!! I think our coach sidka said that we can only realisticly aim for the third place play off but I believe we can get an automatic qualifaction only IF WE BEAT JAPAN. And you know how demotivated our players can get!!!

Well as crucial as the Japan game is I think the game against Iran in the 100000 capacity Azadi stadium will be the hardest. The Iranian (fans and team) seem to hate Bahrain with a vengance after we elimanated them from 2002 world cup. Ive been reading Iranian forums around the net and they are so hooked on humiliating us for their revenge!!! Our boys are going to have a tough time out there in Azadi but anything is possible in football!!!!

So god be with us!

The Iranian (fans and team) seem to hate Bahrain with a vengance after we elimanated them from 2002 world cup.

Iranians hate all Arabs with a vengeance, generally, whether it was about football or not.

Ireland eliminated Iran from the last world cup qualifiers. I don't follow football but I remember that because I met the players at a mall in Dublin.

I recall the UAE was once up against South Korea and Japan. S. Korea already had guaranteed entry, but the competition was between Japan and the UAE. S. Korea lost against Japan on purpose to get them in, because they were both jointly hosting the World Cup that year, and FIFA badly wanted them to get in as well.

I don't know anything about football, but I know that :) So there you go.. you're doomed.

Iranians hate all Arabs with a vengeance, generally, whether it was about football or not.

Ireland eliminated Iran from the last world cup qualifiers. I don't follow football but I remember that because I met the players at a mall in Dublin.


Well politics aside I think they hate us for supposedly "cheating" and "helping" the Saudis get in over them, despite Saudi being a competitor (just like iran) to Bahrain. The only reason Iran had to play Ireland was because they failed to gain the automatic asian qualification and had to result to the runner up play-off against another european runner up (Ireland).

The Iran-Bahrain game in the WCQ 2002 was the determinant for either Iran or Saudi to go through. Bahrain by this last game did not have a chance to qualify, but by beating Iran (3-1) we prevented them from getting the points they were expecting to beat the Saudis to the qualifiaction spot. However what further annoyed them was that one of our players had raised the Saudi flag at the end of the match. Many Iranian fans still accuse the match to be fixed and that our team had taken bribes from the Saudi's to motivate their defeat. Iranian fans blame Bahrain for shattering their world cup dreams four years ago and have ever since been seeking revenge.

But all these issues aside it was a great achievement for us and it was one of the games that signified the great improvement of the Bahraini football. Infact Bahrain came to win the FIFA 'most improved team' award later on that year.

elmahri...ay 9owb saken fel riffa3?

in the area behind Sh. Khalifa house

Again, I reiterate, I have a bad feelin not for the game, but towards what's compin up from the AFC, they're up to somethin. Teams from east asia never get things laid out for them like the ones from the west, and we're talkin Japan and South Korea.

Well politics aside I think they hate us for supposedly "cheating" and "helping" the Saudis get in over them, despite Saudi being a competitor (just like iran) to Bahrain. The only reason Iran had to play Ireland was because they failed to gain the automatic asian qualification and had to result to the runner up play-off against another european runner up (Ireland).

The Iran-Bahrain game in the WCQ 2002 was the determinant for either Iran or Saudi to go through. Bahrain by this last game did not have a chance to qualify, but by beating Iran (3-1) we prevented them from getting the points they were expecting to beat the Saudis to the qualifiaction spot. However what further annoyed them was that one of our players had raised the Saudi flag at the end of the match. Many Iranian fans still accuse the match to be fixed and that our team had taken bribes from the Saudi's to motivate their defeat. Iranian fans blame Bahrain for shattering their world cup dreams four years ago and have ever since been seeking revenge.

But all these issues aside it was a great achievement for us and it was one of the games that signified the great improvement of the Bahraini football. Infact Bahrain came to win the FIFA 'most improved team' award later on that year.

How can they say that the match fixed when we beat them not Saudi, they had the qualification in their hands and lost.
Anyways I hope that everyone who goes to watch the game live sings all the time even when we are loosing. Mata'3liboona!

" alah weyak yal 2a7mar!!!'

How can they say that the match fixed when we beat them not Saudi, they had the qualification in their hands and lost.
Anyways I hope that everyone who goes to watch the game live sings all the time even when we are loosing. Mata'3liboona!

Trust me man I am just as confused as you are....some of the Iranian football forums around the net have some pretty nasty messages against us! I could post some links here but I dont want to get us as angry as they are. I say we wait for the game and see what happenns then. Anyway as I said earlier this will be our toughest game becase they will be seeking to win this game more than anyother! Not to mention the 100 000 angry fans that we will have to face -very intimidating for the team, but I think we are used to playing infront of large numbers of away fans!

27/05/05 : BAHRAIN VS SAUDI (FRIENDLY MATCH)

http://www.bahrainfootball.org/BahrT.jpg

خاض منتخبنا الوطني لكرة القدم مساء أمس تدريبه الأول على استاد الأمير فيصل بن فهد بالملز في الرياض استعدادا لمباراته الدولية الودية مع نظيره السعودي والتي ستقام في التاسعة من مساء غد على استاد الملك فهد الدولي في التجربة الأخيرة للمنتخبين قبل مباراتيهما أمام اليابان والكويت يوم 3 يونيو المقبل في الجولة الرابعة من التصفيات الآسيوية النهائية لكأس العالم

واشتمل التدريب الذي استمر ساعة ونصف ساعة على الاحماء وتطبيق تكتيكات دفاعية وهجومية وتسديد على المرمى من الجهات المختلفة ثم إجراء تقسيمة بين فريقين بمشاركة جميع اللاعبين العشرين الذين غادروا مع المنتخب إلى الرياض.
وسيجري منتخبنا مساء اليوم تدريبه الثاني والمقرر على أستاد الملك فهد الدولي الذي ستقام عليه المباراة إذ طلبت إدارة منتخبنا إقامة التدريب في وقت مبكر بحيث يبدأ في السادسة أو السابعة مساء بدلا من الموعد المحدد في التاسعة مساء الذي تحفظ عليه الجهاز الفني لمنتخبنا لكونه متأخرا ويمتد إلى الحادية عشرة ليلا وهو غير مناسب وخصوصا أنه يأتي عشية المباراة.

Bahrain Football Association (http://www.bahrainfootball.org/html/)

:cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper: :cucumber: :pepper:

Update....

UAE has just beaten our upcoming opponents Japan 1-0 in a friendly match today.

Trust me man I am just as confused as you are....some of the Iranian football forums around the net have some pretty nasty messages against us! I could post some links here but I dont want to get us as angry as they are. I say we wait for the game and see what happenns then. Anyway as I said earlier this will be our toughest game becase they will be seeking to win this game more than anyother! Not to mention the 100 000 angry fans that we will have to face -very intimidating for the team, but I think we are used to playing infront of large numbers of away fans!


I don't find a reason for that anger !!

Iran loost against Bahrain because Bahrain played better, for what reason Bahrain won, to support saudi or whatever is no matter, so what, didn't the best at that evening won? that's it..

Update of friendly....

Saudi 1-1(penalty) Bahrain

Saudi dominated most of the game.

Bahrain and Saudi used different tactics in the game, ifriendlies are a trial and not a real judgement (la etwaday wala etyeeb). Bahrain's tactic is to close the back and construct efficient attacks starting from the wings i.e. strong counter attack. If Japan don't get lucky, we'll beat them inshalla.

About that Iran anger thing, they have been very racists against us Bahrainis all due to the fact that our player lifted the Saudi flag and not due to the score. I talked to an Iranians whom I met on a train and he told me that they were angry with the players after the match but that flag thing is the one that made em angry. Well all I can say is that alla m3nah inshalla fee Azadi infront of those 120,000 fans. It'll be our toughest game and am sure the Iranians want to see this match and beat us more than any other.

Yeah I agree, it was not a proper idea to rise flag of another country,,,

It was Ahmed Hassan who raised the flag if am not wrong. Anyways:

http://gulf-daily-news.com/source/xxviii/074/images/Lpic3.jpg

THOUSANDS of Japanese soccer fans are expected to cheer on their national team in its 2006 World Cup qualifier match against Bahrain tomorrow. Hundreds arrived yesterday but the majority are staying only for the duration of the match, which will begin at the Bahrain National Stadium from 7.30pm.

"More than 2,000 Japanese fans will arrive in Bahrain to support their team," Japanese Embassy second secretary Yoshida Tonohiko told the GDN.

Accommodation had been arranged with travel agents in Japan and Bahrain for those who are staying over for one day, he said.

Mr Tonohiko said a 100-strong Press and media delegation will also be in Bahrain to cover the match.

Meanwhile, the 32-member Japanese delegation, including 25 players, arrived to Bahrain yesterday, headed by Japan Football Association president Saburu Kawabuchi.

The team arrived from Abu Dhabi following a three-day training camp ahead of their match against Bahrain.

Local travel agency House of Travel said it had made arrangements for more than 800 Japanese fans to visit Bahrain for the match.

An agency spokesman said around 350 fans had already arrived, including VIPs, journalists and television crew.

He said the travel package, including for those who will arrive on the day of the match, features tours to various sites in Bahrain.

Fans arriving on the day of the match will be returning to their country following the game on chartered flights.

ذكرت وسائل الإعلام البحرينية اليوم أن لاعبي المنتخب البحريني تمكنوا من كشف كاميرا تجسسية يابانية وضعت في مدرجات الأستاد الوطني الذي يتدرب عليه المنتخب البحريني حاليا وستقام عليه مباراة الجمعة بين المنتخبين الياباني والبحريني .

وقالت وسائل الإعلان أن البحرينيين كانوا قد وافقوا في وقت سابق على ان يضع اليابانيون هذه الكاميرا بعد أن بينوا لهم أنها من أجل تصوير لقات خاصة للقاء يوم الجمعة المقبل , إلا أن لاعبي البحرين في تدريب الأمس لمحوا تحرك الكاميرا ليكتشفوا أخيرا بعد اقترابهم منها اكثر أنها كانت تصور تدريب المنتخب البحريني ويتم التحكم فيها بجهاز (ريموت كنترول عن بعد .

هذا وقام المسؤولون البحرينيون بتفكيك الكاميرا وإزالتها من مكانها وتم إبلاغ اليابانيين بذلك .

a japanese spy cam was found hidden in the bahraini national stadium, which is where the bahraini national team is currently doing its practices and where the game will be held on 2morow. the camera has been noticed to move around during practice. and later to be discovered that it was a remote control camera.

Japanese officials have been contacted about this issue, and the camera was removed.

:bash: :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash:

Man im getiing pretty excited abut this game!! :)

We were all excited my friend, but I just came back from the game and...


...Bahrain LOST 1-0 to JAPAN.


It was very sad. The Bahraini crowd was wild and happy at the beginning of the match, but when Japan scored around 30 minutes later it started becoming worse for Bahrain.

20 minutes before the end of the match, some Bahrainis started to leave early because they knew there was no hope anymore. And many were angry and threw water bottles at the photographers. That was very embarassing to see. :runaway:


Anyway, at the beginning of the game the Baharini team played beautifully (especially Sayyid), but none of the team were SHOOTING at the goal which was very bad for the team and they had MANY amazing opportunities to score good goals but they missed every one.



Anyway, I have pictures I took from the match..they arent very good but I will upload them anyway after a while.

So, what , not end of world..

Thanx for the reply obi...we would all love to see some pics!

Im not in Bahrain but I did watch the game. First of all Id like to say well done for the huge number Bahraini fans who turned up and Supported the team. From my screen the stadium looked perfect,the field seemed to be improved and more importantly the stadium was completely filled out. I dont think I saw a bare space and the support and patriotism shown for our team was just unbelievable! It was the perfect scene for a win..

Unfortunately things did not go our way. We have to remember we were dealing with probably the best team in Asia. Our team has sufered several draw backs from unlucky own goals and the exit and change of coach! And the biggest down factor of all have to be the SEVERAL key players who were missing at different points in time and the complete absence of our top striker Alaa Hubail. Those of you who know the team well will know that this is not the same FULL STRENGHT team we had in the Asian Cup. But apart from all this we still managed to give Japan a hard time. You all know what our team is capabl of and with a bit of luck and patience it could be only a matter of time inshAllah.

Sidka is not stupid he REALIZES the drawbacks we have suffered and thats why we were aiming for the 3rd place play-off!!! So guys we are still very much within our original goal of reaching the world cup!! Anything we achieve above a thrid place is infact exceeding our goals!! I realise the chances of automatic qualifaction are now slim, but the possibility is still there. And if you think about it, the play-offs willhave us facing runner ups who are less difficult teams! I dont care how we reach the world cup as long as we do!! So dont give up hope, and I wish that our stadium will be just as FULL and just as POSITIVE in the final game against North Korea.

Im not in Bahrain but I did watch the game. First of all Id like to say well done for the huge number Bahraini fans who turned up and Supported the team. From my screen the stadium looked perfect,the field seemed to be improved and more importantly the stadium was completely filled out. I dont think I saw a bare space and the support and patriotism shown for our team was just unbelievable! It was the perfect scene for a win..

I agree it was. And there was not one empty seat or bare place, MANY Bahraini fans had to stand for the entire match. There was mexican waves, excitement, flags..everything.

Remember, there were 38,000 Bahraini fans and 2000 Japan fans.



Anyway, I found this review of the match which I found interesting:

What an abysmal performance on the behalf of Japan. Astoundingly poor. Perhaps the only thing that can be said in thier defence, is that Bahrain was even worse, so in effect, Japan got lucky once more.

Both teams played the game as if they were drugged. Look, i know it was 32 degrees, but still. Passes were not completed, late tackles were the norm and all players ran at grandmotherly speeds.

Up front Japan looked honestly incapable of scoring. Who knows why Zico decided to go with the apparently useless Yanagisawa as his sole striker (and who knows why Messina sees fit to re-sign the same)? Yanagisawa missed some embarrassingly easy chances, once the net was empty as Bahrain's keeper advanced in a blunder, yet Japan's striker still rubbished his chances.

Nakata was somewhat ineffective, and was shown a 2cnd yellow, as was Santos (who i was screaming at for diving just prior to his yellow which was for diving). Nakamura hardly seemed to be in the game, and took very few free kicks and set pieces kicks. Kaji continues to almost always lose the ball on the edge of the box, down the flank. And nobody o nthe Japan team seems to be able to muster any degree of finish on the attack.

Zico seemed furious with the team as the game ground on, you could hear his screaming over the TV. In the post-match interview, he did not look like a happy man. If Japan continues to play so poorly, North Korea will devour them. What a dreadful game to watch, whether you support either Bahrain or Japan. Despite only being down by 1 goal, it appeared that Bahrain pretty much decided to just pack it in for the greater part of the 2cnd half, rarely thrreatening to go on the attack, and kicking the ball about like some school kids.

Despite the result, i am sorry that i stayed up for this match.

Nice article obi....anyway as I say I think our chances for 2nd place are near impossible, so anything else is just a bonus. :)

Well hard luck to us Bahrainis and thanks to all who went, it's amazin hearin how many ppl filled the stadium last night. Although am not in Bahrain, I can just understand the emotions there. The players aren't playin properly and some say after they went on pro contracts, they didn't care about the national team as much as they cared about their pockets. Anyways, I didn't have high hopes for the match and wasn't really that bothered from the loss, nothin new to be honest.

The team just needs to keep their heads high and they can make it through 3rd place although with this performance, we ain't goin anywhere and am disappointed that the coach played defensively when he knew Japan will play on the counter attack and that's one of the reasons for the loss imo.

Anyways, back to study.

Hi guys..

I saw this match in Tokyo. Every cafe, bar, club and convinent store was tunned it at 1:30 am to watch this match. It was amazing to watch the match in Japan, even though I was rotting for Bahrain. At one time I was in a crowd of at least 300 hardcore japanese soccer fans in a overly croweded sports bar the size of a room. It was crazy ..

I really wanted to see bahrain win but after ten minutes pretty much every one could tell that Japan would win. Im sorry to say this but bahrain was a joke and i really got angry that i wasted my sat night watchign the match. I was shocked at how poorly they played coz all week ive been telling every japanese i bump into they would lose coz barhain's team will be loaded with soul and the love of their country to win this match. something which i was very mistaken about.
I think everyone, not only bahrainis, had high hopes for bahrain national team. :/

CROWDS SCENES FROM BAHRAIN V JAPAN 03/06/05.

http://chanad.weblogs.us/img/0506/374/640/100_5480.jpg
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http://chanad.weblogs.us/img/0506/374/640/100_5523.jpg



Thanks to Chan'ad Bahraini. Click here for Article. (http://chanad.weblogs.us/?p=374#comments)

Hi guys..

I saw this match in Tokyo. Every cafe, bar, club and convinent store was tunned it at 1:30 am to watch this match. It was amazing to watch the match in Japan, even though I was rotting for Bahrain. At one time I was in a crowd of at least 300 hardcore japanese soccer fans in a overly croweded sports bar the size of a room. It was crazy ..

I really wanted to see bahrain win but after ten minutes pretty much every one could tell that Japan would win. Im sorry to say this but bahrain was a joke and i really got angry that i wasted my sat night watchign the match. I was shocked at how poorly they played coz all week ive been telling every japanese i bump into they would lose coz barhain's team will be loaded with soul and the love of their country to win this match. something which i was very mistaken about.
I think everyone, not only bahrainis, had high hopes for bahrain national team. :/

In Tokyo? Lucky yooou...

We need a new Stadium , sports city or whatever... immediately, Urgently..

ohh yeah, and a civilized car park area...

I agree, its about time bahrain built a new stadium. The team is to good for this stadium and bahrain has a big enough fan base to build a new stadium. mabye somewhere in the shkuir area right next to the F1 or the new horse city madry what.

Did anyone see qatar's new stadium ?!?! (lazim afasheer :p)

I agree, its about time bahrain built a new stadium. The team is to good for this stadium and bahrain has a big enough fan base to build a new stadium. mabye somewhere in the shkuir area right next to the F1 or the new horse city madry what.

Did anyone see qatar's new stadium ?!?! (lazim afasheer :p)

I would like to see a new stadium aswell. But the only time the stadiums are actually filled is during our National games...The local league is crap and way behind the more established ones like in Qatar, UAE or Saudi. I think we need to fund the football association and local leagues more prior to building a new stadium!

We saw the new stadium, I posted a thread about it. My adivce to the Bahrain National Team players is wake up, don't think about your pockets and play for the shirt you wear. They play good away and crap and I mean really crap at home. #

Ma gool illa allah yaster fee 6ehran, chan ma yetma'6mu'6oon feenah, ebroo7a min allah yaboon i6egoona.

heheheh, you're right B. Spirit allah yaster

Qatar4ever Qatar's Stadium is amazing

Qatar's stadium is okay, however my love is Athens stadium... wish to have 1/2 of it atleast if possible in Bahrain..hehe

First thing, Mabrook Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea and hard luck Bahrain, Kuwait, Uzbekistan and North Korea. Let's see what we can do with the third qualifier, we should qualify cause the strongest teams were in group B. Let's wait and see who we'll play, but I prefer Kuwait over Uzbekistan especially for the away match.


Anyways, am sure you heard what happened in Azadi, all I say is too much for the hospitality and the sportsmanship, sooo sad and am sure they'll be punished from Fifa (not generalizing against Iranians here):

http://pdf.alayam.com/Archive/PDF/June_2005/9-6-2005/Page49.pdf