BAHRAINSPORTS
APRIL 2014
JOB WELL DONE
Hudson congratulates players
after their game against Qatar
“If we’re going to
make history, we
have to do things
differently ...
We must have a
group of players that
are on the same page.
We must do things in
the way that we believe,
and if we can achieve
that, then absolutely we
can make history.”
– ANTHONY HUDSON
BAHRAIN HEAD COACH
IN CONTROL
Sayed Ahmed Jaafar protects the ball
Then, in early March, after being rewarded by the BFA with a new two-year
contract, Hudson led Bahrain to winning
group ‘D’ in the qualification competition
for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. They sealed
first place following a goalless stalemate
against Qatar in Doha – a result that kept
them undefeated in the entire qualifying
process while making it 10 matches in
a row in all competitions under Hudson
with just one defeat.
Hudson’s eyes are now set on the two
major competitions ahead of him, and
he is determined to keep up the winning
trend.
“I have to impress on the players
every single day that we don’t want to
just go through the motions and just
compete; we want to go all the way and
make history,” Hudson stresses.
And the Gulf Cup and Asian Cup are
the perfect places to do that.
“I believe we can do it,” he continues.
“I believe that if we can get things right in
terms of building this group, building the
team, getting the right players in and the
right characters with the right ability, I
think we have a great chance.”
The Gulf Cup will be first on the
cards for Bahrain. The tournament is
scheduled to take place between November 13 and 26 later this year, with Riyadh
hosting the prestigious event.
The Bahrainis were fourth in the
previous edition of the competition, and
have finished twice four times overall,
most recently in 2003.
A victory this year is an absolutely
realistic target, Hudson strongly believes.
“I do know we absolutely can achieve
winning the Gulf Cup if we want to,”
he says. “It’s going to take a lot of hard
work, but we can do it.”
One month after the Gulf Cup, the
Bahrainis will be making the long journey to Australia to play in the AFC Asian
Cup, which is scheduled for January next
year.
Hudson praises his team for winning
their qualifying group, which gives them
a higher seed for the draw and where
they should now avoid being grouped
with the bigger nations for the first round
such as the host Aussies, holders Japan
and the Koreas.
Hudson is optimistic that his team
can surpass the success of the 2004
squad that made it all the way to the
semi-finals of the continental competition
– a feat Bahrain has failed to repeat in the
past two tournaments in 2007 and 2011.
“What those guys achieved in 2004
was incredible, but we want to get a better result,” Hudson exclaims.
“If we’re going to make history, we
have to do things differently. We have to
plan differently, we have to work differently, we have to be a team that plays in a
different way.
“We must have a group of players
that are on the same page. We must do
things in the way that we believe, and if
we can achieve that, then absolutely we
can make history.
“We have to believe it and we have to
fight for it. Otherwise, there is no point in
us taking part.” THE GAME
EQUAL FOOTING
Sami Al Hossaini
sports magazine t h e g a m e
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