Tiny Bahrain faces daunting task

Tiny Bahrain failed to get into the knockout rounds at the last Asian Cup in 2007 and with Australia and South Korea awaiting it in Doha a similar fate could be on the cards.

Avoiding last place in Group C must be its priority as it comes into the tournament riding a poor run of form.

Its outcome is in the hands of former international Salman Sharida, who recently took over when Austrian Josef Hickersberger quit to return to his previous club, Al Wahda of the United Arab Emirates.

But Sharida, who lacks international experience, has enjoyed little success so far, and with failure at the tournament often seeing heads roll, he has his work cut out.

Under Sharida, Bahrain was held goalless by Uganda in November, followed by a 2-0 loss at the hands of fellow Asian Cup finalist Syria.

It was then held 1-1 in the Gulf Cup opener by Oman before losing 3-2 to Iraq, the defending Asian Cup champion.

The Gulf Cup turned into a disaster with the team only managing a point from its group - emphasizing the difficulty of its task in Qatar.

A 1-1 draw in a warm-up game with Uzbekistan last week failed to lift the gloom before it bounced back to beat Jordan 2-1 in another friendly for a much-needed morale boost.

While Bahrain, which is in its third consecutive Asian Cup, hasn't made too many footballing headlines recently, it was plastered over the papers in September when it found itself at the center of an elaborate scam.

The team beat Togo 3-0 in Manama in a warm-up to the West Asian Football Federation Championship only to find that the visitor was a fraud, masquerading as the national squad.

Amusing as it was, it came at a cost with several people, including an ex-Togo sports minister, being detained.

There is no chance of that happening in Doha with Australia and South Korea boasting top-rated teams full of European-based stars.

Bahrain opens its campaign against the Koreans at Al Gharafa Stadium on Jan 10 before facing a must-win match against group minnow India.

With goals a priority, Bahrain will be relying heavily on dangerous striker Ismaeel Abdullateef, while fellow forward Jaycee John will feature after his Turkish club Eskisehirspor released him - it refused to do so for the Gulf Cup.

Sharida will also pin hopes on his overseas players who are mostly based in Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

They include Faouzi Aaish and Abdulla Al Marzooqi (Al Silia, Qatar), Mohammed Hussain (Um Salal, Qatar) and Hussain Baba (Al Wehda, Saudi Arabia).

Other notable members of the squad include midfielder Abdulla Baba Fatadi, who is another who boasts European experience, as well as as captain Salman Isa.

Agence France-Presse