Bahrain gear up for Uzbekistan clash

Gulf Daily News October 3 Bahrain's national soccer team resumed training under their coach Luka Peruzovic at the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) grounds in Riffa for their 2006 World Cup replay first-leg match against Uzbekistan scheduled on Saturday at Pakhtakor Stadium in Tashkent. The BFA, which named 26 players last week for the preparational phase, added Al Hala's upcoming striker Ismail Abdullatif to the list. However, team manager Abdulrazzaq Mohammed said only 18 players will be submitted to Fifa at the technical meeting in Tashkent 24 hours before the match. "It is all up to the coach to select his squad for Uzbekistan. He may take the complete team or select a lesser number. It all depends on his strategy for this play-off," he further explained. Since Bahrain's earlier match, which was nullified, last month in Tashkent, six new players were added to the team. They are strikers Ala'a Hubail, Daij Nasser, Abdullatif, midfielder Hussain Salman and defender Mahmood Mansoor while defender Mohammed Hussain was excluded due to a ligament injury. Mohammed said the BFA contacted six soccer associations - Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco and Jordan - to arrange a friendly match before the play-off but all the efforts came to nought. Fifa's decision to replay the first-leg match offered a second chance for Bahrain's coach Peruzovic of Belgium to think of a winning strategy. Mohammed said Uzbekistan's 1-0 victory last month at Pakhtakor Stadium was 'deleted' from the memory of the players and that they will be looking to achieve a better result on their second visit to Tashkent. "We have been under a lot of pressure before the previous match," he said. "The players were very tense too. However, the good thing is that now they have experienced what it is like there and so they are better prepared for the next game," said the former international defender. Commenting on Ala'a's return, Mohammed said the 23-year-old striker's comeback inspire his teammates. "Ala'a has been out for over a year following the team's return from last year's Gulf Cup in Doha. He suffered a ligament injury during a match in February with his Qatari club Al Gharrafa but now he is back and is ready to strike the target," said Mohammed. The match will be replayed following a controversial decision in the original match on September 3 at the same venue by referee Toshimitsu Yoshida of Japan and the delay allowed both coaches to become more familiar with their respective squads as Peruzovic was appointed less than 40 days before the game last month. Peruzovic was criticised after the first match in Tashkent, with the media in Bahrain claiming he was guilty of playing certain individuals out of position, notably Mohammed Juma'a, normally a left-back but used as an anchorman on that day. "It is ridiculous to label one player as being responsible for the defeat. He may have made a mistake but that does not mean he is the only one to blame. We had some serious difficulties throughout the team," said Peruzovic. Peruzovic's plans to have a longer training session with his team received a setback as he could only meet them on Saturday due to the players' clubs commitments. Undeterred by the wait, the Belgian flew to Doha in order to take a closer look at several Bahrain internationals who are currently playing as professionals in the Qatari league. The players are Ala'a Hubail, Hussain Ali (both Al Gharrafa), Sayed Mohammed Adnan and Mohammed Juma'a (both Al Khor), Mohammed Hubail (Qatar Club), Mohammed Salmeen (Al Arabi), Daij Nasser (Al Wakra) and Mahmood Jalal (Al Siliya). Other Bahrainis playing abroad are Talal Yousef and Hussain Baba, both playing for Kuwait Club and Hussain Salman who is with the UAE's Al Wasl.