For the first time since September 2021, Palestine will play a friendly.
The Palestine Football Association announced on its Facebook page that Al-Fida’i will play against Bahrain in Manama on the 25th of March. The announcement of the game comes with a degree of relief for a side that had planned to use the 2023 WAFF Championship as a testing ground ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup finals. That tournament has been at best delayed, if not cancelled, following the UAE’s announcement that it would be unable to host. (The UAE is hosting Thailand and Tajikistan in a pair of friendlies this month, though).
Bahrain have been overachievers under the tutelage of Portuguese manager Helio Sousa. The former Vitoria Setubal manager took the reins of Al-Ahmar in 2019 following the Asian Cup finals and won the team’s first ever WAFF Championship by beating Iraq in the final on their home ground. The follow up to that was a maiden Arabian Gulf Cup title sandwiched in between a famous win over Iran in 2022 World Cup qualifying and two draws against Iraq.
The Bahrainis were arguably the side most impacted by the stoppage caused by the Coronavirus pandemic as it halted the momentum that was clearly being harnessed by Helio Sousa. In the end, Iran fired Wilmots and hired Skocic who led Iran to a perfect four wins of four to top the qualifying group. Iraq also got the results they needed leaving Bahrain two points short of a spot in Round 3.
If there is one knock on Bahrain it’s that they are quite workmanlike in their performances and can sometimes struggle to take the game to inferior opponents. A drab 0-0 draw in World Cup qualifying against Hong Kong comes to mind. Their performance in the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup featured a solitary point and not a single goal.
That dip in performances was halted though in Asian Cup qualifying- three wins out of three- against Bangladesh (2-0), Malaysia (2-1), and Turkmenistan (1-0). Their title defence at the Arabian Gulf Cup featured 2-1 wins over UAE and Qatar although Oman edged them 1-0 in the semifinal.
Helio Sousa’s veteran side should provide Palestine with a stern test ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup and could come in handy should the team face the likes of Oman or UAE at the finals next year.
Palestine and Bahrain have faced off on seven previous occasions. With each team having recorded three wins a piece and a shared draw. The last time the two teams met was in March 2018- the sole occasion when the encounter ended in a draw, a drab 0-0.
As this match will coincide with the FIFA International window, Makram Dabboub will be able to call upon all his internationally based players. It should also mark the first time Palestine don their new kits- designed by Tempo.
