Bahrain eyes World Cup spot

Manama, Oct. 22 (BNA): Hosts Bahrain hope to make history on Sunday and qualify for the prestigious 2017 FIFA U-20 World Football Cup finals. The nationals will take on tournament surprise Vietnam in the AFC U-19 Championship, being held in Bahrain. This crucial match tips off at 7.30pm at the National Stadium. The winner of this key clash will book their berths in next year’s biennial international youth football championship in South Korea. In the other quarter-finals scheduled for Monday, Japan take on Tajikistan at 4.15pm at Khalifa Stadium, then Iran faces Uzbekistan at 7.30pm at the National Stadium. Coaches of the four teams involved in today’s action shared their thoughts at the pre-matches press conference held yesterday. Bahrain coach Abdulaziz Abdo emphasized that they are facing a good team in Vietnam with good tactics and players. “We have a few advantages as hosts of this tournament including the fact that we play in our own stadium and in front of our own fans, which gives the players extra motivation”, he said. “We would like to make the fans, the government and the Bahraini Football Association happy, so we need everybody to stand up and lend a hand to the team for the next match”. Vietnam Coach Hoang Anh Tuansaid: “The first time I spoke to everybody, I said we were happy to be one of the best 16 teams in Asia. Now, after qualifying from our group, we are proud to be one of the best eight teams in this tournament.” “Our mentality will be key to our success. We looked back at Myanmar’s exploits at the last AFC U-19 Championship when they qualified for the U-20 World Cup and we took many, many lessons from their success,” added Hoang. Saudi Arabia’s coach Saad Al Shehri noted that all of the teams who have qualified for the quarterfinals have good tactics and mentality and that’s why they are here. “We started the group stage with an ascending rhythm and now we’re doing great,” said Al Shehri. “We are facing an Iraqi team who have a lot of young talent and many good players and we wish them good luck. We want to have a good game so that the fans will be happy.” Iraq coach Abbas Atiyah hopes his side can have plenty of good luck so they can qualify for the World Cup in Korea Republic next year. “Saudi have a good team, a good coach and they can qualify, so it will not be an easy match. There will be no result other than a win. If we lose the match we will congratulate them and, if not, we will say hard luck to them.” Entry for tomorrow’s match between Bahrain and Vietnam will be for free, as per directives from Bahrain Football Association president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa. Shaikh Ali stressed on the importance of tomorrow’s match as Bahrain look to book their first-ever berth in the World Cup finals. He urged the Bahrain fans to flock to the stadium and cheer for the national team in this crucial match.