Bahrain wary of culture shock

Bahrain warmed up for their upcoming two-legged decider against Trinidad and Tobago with a 5-0 victory over Central American opponents Panama in Manama on Thursday. But Peruzovic admitted he was still concerned by his squad’s lack of exposure to sides from the North, Central American and Caribbean region. Prior to facing Panama the only time Bahrain had met any team from the Americas over the past 20 years was when they were beaten 2-1 at home by Paraguay in a friendly in 1986.

Peruzovic would like to arrange further warm-up matches against teams from either South America or the CONCACAF region ahead of the matches against TT on November 12 and 16. The pair will contest for an historic first FIFA World Cup finals place. "We are not familiar with the culture of the game in this part of the world and we do not want to start learning about it on the day of the match against Trinidad and Tobago," said Peruzovic.

The coach was speaking after goals from Abdulla Al Dakeel, Ahmed Yusuf Al Hujairi, Mahmood Abbas, Abdulla Marzooq and Abdulrahman Mubarak had secured a comprehensive win for an under-strength Bahrain side against a Panama team who finished bottom of the CONCACAF region’s final-round group.

The result did not deceive Peruzovic, who was only too aware Panama were without many of the players who excelled in reaching the CONCACAF Gold Cup final in the United States in the summer.

"I know that Panama used a lot of young players today and I am not excited about the result but I am happy that my players are getting the feel of what it’s like to face such teams," he said.

Peruzovic was also fielding a weakened team, missing his Qatar and Kuwait-based players. Qatari clubs have refused to release any players before November 5, meaning the seven regulars who ply their trade there; including star striker Alaa Hubail, will miss a significant slice of the training ground work which Peruzovic has planned to start on October 31.

This has not been the only hiccup in Bahrain’s preparations. A training camp in Jamaica was called off at the last minute after the hosts asked for US$350,000 to play a friendly match against the Gulf country, leaving officials looking for a replacement venue in Honduras or Venezuela. Peruzovic is also concerned by the fact 11 of his players will go into the first leg in Port-of-Spain on a yellow card, and so one booking away from missing the return.

On the plus side, first-choice goalkeeper Ali Hassan has resumed training after recovering from a knee injury while striker Husain ‘Pele’ Ahmed has been in outstanding form for his club Al Gharafa in the Qatari League.

Finally, eyebrows have been raised back in Trinidad and Tobago at the arrival in Manama of the Caribbean side’s former assistant coach David Nakhid, reportedly to serve as a technical consultant to the Bahrain Football Association for the play-off. Nakhid himself, a former Trinidadian international, said, "This is all part of the mind games between the two teams. I arrived in Bahrain to coach their national youth team and nothing else."

Bahrain defeated Uzbekistan on away goals in the Asian Zone play-offs to progress to next month’s tie against TT, who finished fourth in the CONCACAF region.