Past World Cup campaigns ended in failure

Traditionally regarded in football circles as Middle Eastern under-achievers, Bahrain made a promising name for themselves in 2001 when they upset Kuwait to reach the final round of FIFA World Cup qualifying. From there, they did even better, finishing third behind Saudi Arabia and Iran, but only after drawing and beating the two fancied sides. They continued their rapid footballing growth at the 2002 Arab Cup in Kuwait, where they reached the final only to lose to the Saudis on a golden goal.

They have performed unexpectedly well against the region’s top sides but have also developed a nasty habit of losing to beatable teams. In 2003, they lost to Oman and Iraq and drew with lowly Malaysia.

Regardless, they have certainly established themselves as one of the most improved teams in Asia since the last FIFA World Cup. Croatian tactical wizard Srecko Juricic took over the reins from Frenchman Yves Herbet in July of 2003, and has made positive changes.

The year 2004 saw the Gulf side pull off a series of blistering performances under their wily Croatian boss, reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Cup for the first time in August, and getting to the final round of qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany.

En route to the Asian Zone FIFA World Cup qualifying final round, some young talents have burst onto the scene, with A’ala Hubail the most notable new boy. The 22-year-old forward, who sat atop the scoring charts of the 2004 Asian Cup alongside Iran’s Ali Karimi, added another five goals to his tally in the second round qualifying campaign to send Bahrain into the rarefied air of the last eight.

Apart from 1990, Bahrain have entered every FIFA World Cup preliminary competition since 1978. Their debut was marked by a double defeat to Kuwait, although they won one of their two meetings with Qatar, but there were to be no victories four years later against Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Bahrain were untroubled by South Yemen in 1986 but found no way of coping with Syria, while FIFA World Cup participants South Korea eliminated them in 1994 with a 3-0 victory and the 1998 campaign ended in failure too.

Their best performance to date came in the 2002 preliminary round, including victories over Iran and Iraq, but it was still only enough for a third place finish in their group. Bahrain’s biggest victory was a 6-2 defeat of Qatar in 1972.

Sunday Newsday spoke with Reem Khalifa, a senior editor at Alsawat, one of Bahrain’s leading news organisations and she said there is great interest in the fortunes of the country’s national football team. The country is eight hours ahead of Trinidad and Tobago, so that it would have been approximately 2.30 am there when the game was being played. "People are finding out as much as they can about Trinidad and Tobago and its football," she said.

Bahrain — whose name means "two seas" — was one of the first states in the Gulf to discover oil and to build a refinery. As such, it saw the benefits of the new oil wealth before most of its neighbours. But it never reached the levels of production enjoyed by Kuwait or Saudi Arabia and has been forced to diversify its economy.

The country has been headed since 1783 by the al-Khalifah family, members of the Sunni Bani Utbah tribe, who succeeded in expelling the Persians. From 1861, when a treaty was signed with Britain, until independence in 1971, Bahrain was virtually a British protectorate.

The king is the supreme authority and the ruling family holds all important political and military posts. Since the National Assembly was dissolved in 1975, there have been outbreaks of civil unrest involving the Shia majority.

In 2001 Bahrainis strongly backed proposals put by the emir — now the king — to turn the country into a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament and an independent judiciary.

Elections were duly held in 2002 for a 40-member parliament, the Council of Deputies. It was the first such poll in nearly 30 years. The new body included a dozen Shia MPs. The country has also been enjoying increasing freedom of expression, and monitors report that the human rights situation has improved.

However, opposition groups and campaigners continue to press for political reforms, including greater powers for the elected assembly.

The island state has for the past few years been a centre for tourists from the region taking advantage of its relaxed social environment. A close ally of the US, it is home to the American navy’s Fifth Fleet.