Bahrain searching for elusive second win

Dubai: Bahrain will seek a piece of history in Tuesday's AFC Asian Cup UAE Round of 16, when they attempt to beat Korea Republic and claim a second win for the first time in the competition's history.

Jamal Rashed's last-gasp penalty kick against India gave Bahrain what proved to be a crucial three points, allowing Miroslav Soukup's side to salvage third place in Group A, and qualify for the knockout stage for the first time since reaching the last four in 2004.

While the West Asian side's subsequent campaigns have all ended in the group stage, a final tally of one win, and one win only, has become a constant in their trips to the Continental Finals.

UAE 2019 is the fifth edition of the competition in a row where Bahrain have claimed exactly one win, although their 2004 campaign did also include a penalty shootout success over Uzbekistan after a 2-2 draw in the last eight.

Standing in Bahrain's way at Dubai's Rashid Stadium are the red-hot Korea Republic, who cruised through the group stage with wins over Philippines, Kyrgyz Republic and China PR without conceding a goal.

Paulo Bento's side is also aided by the presence of recently-arrived talisman Son Heung-min, who leads the chance creation, despite only playing a single match, having produced seven scoring opportunities in Wednesday's 2-0 win over China PR.

While the Koreans are considered one of the most dangerous attacking outfits in Asia, Bahrain's attacking conversion rate is one of the lowest in the competition among teams to have found the back of the net.

Just two of their 36 shots at goal found the back of the net, one of them being Rashed's spot-kick against India, suggesting Al Ahmar will need to improve in front of goal if they are to overcome the miserly Korea Republic defence.

While the form and statistics are in Korea Republic's favour, the AFC Asian Cup history between the sides is dead even, with both sides registering a 2-1 win in their two past meetings in the competition in 2007 and 2011, although Bahrain were eliminated in the group stage on both of those occasions.
The One and Only - Bahrain's AFC Asian Cup wins

2004 Bahrain 3-1 Indonesia Jinan, China PR

2007 Bahrain 2-1 Korea Republic Jakarta, Indonesia

2011 Bahrain 5-2 India Doha, Qatar

2015 Bahrain 2-1 Qatar Sydney, Australia

2019 Bahrain 1-0 India Sharjah, United Arab Emirates


Source: the-afc.com