The Football Report on Bahrain’s Strong Squad for the Qualifiers: Teenage Talent Jumps Four Levels, Overseas Striker Unexpectedly Left Out

Bahrain’s squad of 27 players mostly comes from four clubs: Riffa, Muharraq, Al-Manama SC, and Al-Hidd. Compared to the list of 36-strong qualifiers in June, seven changes have been made.

Talat Ardji has recalled several players over 30 years old, hoping to enhance the team’s combat capability with their rich experience. There are as many as five players born in the ’80s in the list, with 39-year-old goalkeeper Jaffar being a representative figure, along with defender Hayam, midfielder Harham (35 years old), Abdul Karim (37 years old), and forward Abdul Latif who will turn 38 in early September. In addition, there are eight more players over 30 years old, covering all three lines of the team, with “30+” players making up half of the total number of players. Among these veterans, goalkeeper Jaffar, defender Hayam, midfielder Maroud, and forward Abdul Latif all participated in the 2015 Asian Cup, and ten of them played in the 2019 Asian Cup.

Talat Ardji brought six “post-00s” newcomers during training in Slovenia at the end of July, five of whom were included in the current squad for the 18-strong qualifiers, including naturalized Nigerian defender Emmanuel, central defender Harasi who will turn 21 in early September, attacking midfielder Hatel, and left winger Sherouzi.

The most notable is the young talent Wadei, who was sent by the Bahrain Football Association to the youth team of Villarreal in La Liga two years ago for training. Only 16 years old, Wadei just graduated from Villarreal’s youth team this summer and was exceptionally promoted by Talat Ardji, jumping four age groups, directly from the U17 team to the senior national team. This midfield genius is considered the next big star of Bahraini football. From the current situation, it seems unlikely that he will get much playing time during the 18-strong qualifiers period. Talat Ardji has included him in the squad to let him experience the atmosphere of major competitions and accumulate some experience.

In terms of overseas players, only left winger Marhoon, who plays for Kuwait SC, has returned. Yousuf Hilal, the tall striker who transferred from the Czech league team Bohemians to Slovan Liberec this summer, scored in three consecutive games at the start of the new season in the Czech First League, netting three goals and one assist in six games, but surprisingly missed out on Bahrain’s current squad. Standing 1.94 meters tall, Hilal possesses strong offensive power, and fans consider him a sharp weapon for Bahrain’s front line. He scored the winning goal against Jordan in the third round of the group stage of the Asian Cup in January, leading Bahrain to advance from the group. After scoring in the match against Qatar in the Gulf Cup group stage in January, Hilal scored only two goals in 15 games. Perhaps because his offensive efficiency did not meet the expectations of the national team coaching staff, he sat on the bench for 90 minutes in the last 36-strong qualifier against the UAE in June.

Without Hilal on the offensive end, Bahrain can only rely on other players to solve their attacking problems. In the four 36-strong qualifiers after the Asian Cup, Bahrain’s nine goals came from eight different players, including two goals from Riffa’s defender Bajil. Six of the goal scorers are veterans over 30 years old, including the soon-to-be 38-year-old Abdul Latif.