Up for the cup

Sports in Bahrain enter an exciting phase this summer.

The next couple of months is   going to be momentous, and may well define its future as the soccer team plays in the Asian Cup (July 7 to 29) in Jakarta and the athletes compete in the World Championships (August 25 to September 2) in Osaka, Japan.
The national Olympic soccer team, meanwhile, will be fighting it out in the final qualifying round (home-and-away) for a slot in the 2008 Beijing Games.
By the end of it all, Bahrain may well find out the difference between rhetoric and reality.
The task ahead of all the three teams is intimidating but not impossible. The buildup has been quite encouraging, despite the odd setback suffered by the soccer team (like losing to Vietnam 3-5 last week in a friendly), the overall mood is quite optimistic and the general prediction increasingly positive.
First the Asian Cup. In the last edition held in 2004 in China, Bahrain provided the biggest shocks and proved the surprise package of the tournament. It was a landmark year not just for soccer but also for sports in general in the kingdom.
To me, 2004 is a convenient reference point for the growth of sports in Bahrain. It was the year Bahrain International Circuit hosted the inaugural Formula One race. It was the year Ruqaya Al Ghasra made the breakthrough in athletics, and, more pertinently, it was also the year the Bahrain football team came of age by entering the semi-finals of the Asian Cup in Beijing.
Till 2004, Bahrain was languishing at the bottom even in the GCC. In fact, the Berlin Wall was still intact to remind us of the Communist era when the only other occasion Bahrain qualified for the Asian Cup.
It was in 1988, and Bahrain finished last in its group that also included Saudi Arabia, China, Syria and Kuwait.
Legendary goalkeeper Humood Sultan was part of that team along with defender Khamis Eid and strikers Hamad Mohammed and Fuad Bushager.
There was very little cause for celebration then and even hardened football fans have long forgotten it.
“I can only remember that Bahrain drew two matches and lost the other two,” recalled our sister publication Gulf Daily News’ soccer correspondent Rami Hulayyel.
“I was 13 or 14 and remember watching the final which Saudi Arabia won,” Hulayyel added. “Very few seemed to know when Bahrain entered and exited from the tournament.”
But ask about the 2004 championship and even the casual fans get rhetoric recalling the magic moments. I too followed that tournament closely while on holiday in Bangalore, and returned to work with an excess baggage of fond memories and renewed vigour for doing what we call in journalistic lingo a ‘mood piece’.
How can anyone forget Bahrain’s last gasp equaliser to draw with hosts China in the opening match? Or for that matter, star striker Ala’a Hubail’s double as Bahrain edged out Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals?
Even after four years, it is difficult to forget the excitement and expectation when Bahrain led 3-2 in the heart-stopping semi-final against eventual champions Japan. Hubail, who ended as the joint top scorer with five goals, was on target again.
But experience proved decisive in the end as Japan scored the match-winner in the third minute of extra-time to win the semi-final 4-3 and end Bahrain’s courageous and glorious run against all expectations.
It was a tournament that turned Bahrain’s modest football players into instant millionaires.
More than a dozen turned professionals and signed lucrative deals to play for rich clubs outside Bahrain.
Hubail is today Bahrain’s top player following his $475,000 one-year deal signed last month with Kuwait’s Al Qadsia Club. Sayed Mohammed Adnan (defender, Al Khor, Qatar), Abdulla Al Marzooqi (defender, Kuwiat Club, Kuwait), Mohammed Hussain (defender, Al Qadsia, Kuwait), Talal Yousef (midfielder, Al Qadsia, Kuwait), Salman Isa (midfield, Al Arabi, Qatar) and Hussain Ali (striker, Umm Sallal, Qatar) are some of the other stars playing overseas.
Since 2004, Bahrain also came close to qualifying for the 2006 World Cup held in Germany. At the same time, much water has flown under the bridge since then, or the traffic on Bahrain roads have increased beyond belief if you like.
Also, coach Srecko Juricic, who masterminded the 2004 team, is long gone (Milan Macala is the present coach), and star-studded Australia has entered the Asian fold to give this year’s tournament a new sparkle.
Let’s hope Bahrain will be able to add its own spark to Asia’s biggest spectacle.
Bahrain’s athletes are also in a similar boat, but we will have to leave that till next week.
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The week gone by has been both heartening and heartbreaking for Indian sports.
While the Indian cricket team continued its resurgence following the World Cup reversal with a 2-1 series victory over South Africa, Sania Mirza flattered to deceive again losing in the second round at Wimbledon.
The Indian Press was familiarly agog, and in overdrive again, much to my amusement.
Here is the ‘intro’ of a piece I read in a leading Indian daily following Mirza’s victory in the first round at Wimbledon:
“London: Girls her age seldom go to work at that hour, unless they happen to have the unenviable job of listening to – and placating – English grannies’ complaints about a Barclays bank statement or a malfunctioning microwave oven in a voice that frogs might mistake for a partnership call...
“...A polar bear might have found the conditions perfect for a roll on the grass and a cozy snooze…..”
This was in reference to the cold conditions in London and the timing of Mirza’s match, which started at 8pm local time. Mirza won that match against Yaroslava Schvedoa 6-0, 6-3 in under an hour.
But what happens next: Mirza is routed by 11th seed Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-2 in 64 minutes to be exact.
Infuriating indeed, the tone of the article in particular.

Group D
Bahrain
Indonesia
Saudi Arabia
South Korea

Fixture List
July 10: Indonesia v Bahrain
(Starting 1.20pm Bahrain time)
July 11: South Korea v Saudi Arabia
(Starting 3.35pm Bahrain time)
July 14: Saudi Arabia v Indonesia
(Starting 3.35pm Bahrain time)
July 15: Bahrain v South Korea
(Starting 3.35pm Bahrain time)
July 18: Indonesia v South Korea
(1.20pm Bahrain time)
Saudi Arabia v Bahrain
(1.20pm Bahrain time, at Palembang)
All matches will be show live on Bahrain TV

By Vijay Mruthyunjaya
vmruthyunjaya@gmail.com