Bahrain can only get better, says Soukup
23rd January 2019
Dubai: Bahrain may have bowed out of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 after losing to Korea Republic 2-1, but head coach Miroslav Soukup believes his side has gained valuable experience and confidence after playing against the top teams throughout their campaign.
The West Asians bounced back from a goal down through Mohamed Al Romaihi’s second half strike to push their Round of 16 tie into an additional 30 minutes at the Rashid Stadium on Tuesday, only to eventually fall to Korea Republic substitute Kim Jin-su’s header in the first period of extra time.
“I want to say thank you very much to my team for the whole tournament because they did a great job, and today they showed me that if they continue to work, this team with a lot of young players will have a good future,” said Soukup.
“We need to play games like today, because for my team it’s really good experience. This game has helped us a lot, because now we have experience and our players trust themselves that they can play against any team."
Round of 16: Korea Republic vs Bahrain
“If we keep the discipline and effort at a maximum, we can achieve results against any opponent.”
Bahrain advanced from Group A as one of the four best third-placed teams, having held hosts United Arab Emirates 1-1 on the opening day. They lost 1-0 to Thailand but sealed their place in the knockout stage with a last gasp 1-0 win over India.
Source: the-afc.com