Abu Dhabi: Defender Waleed Al Hayam has declared that he is more than happy with the point Bahrain earned from the 1-1 draw with the United Arab Emirates in Saturday’s opening game of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019.



On a night of high drama, Bahrain had taken a late lead through Mohamed Al Rohaimi only for substitute Ahmed Khalil to salvage a point for the host nation with an 88th minute penalty at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Despite the UAE’s late equaliser, Al Hayam believes it was a case of a job well done for Miroslav Soukup’s charges who are looking to better Bahrain’s fourth-place finish at the AFC Asian Cup in 2004.



“We are thankful for the draw, as the players did absolutely everything they could,” said the 27-year-old Al Muharraq star.

“In the first half, the UAE controlled the game, but I feel that the second period was completely different for us."

“That was our coach’s plan, namely to let the UAE have control of the start of the match so that we could study their performance and then apply pressure on them after the break.

“We believe that getting one point from the match is very good for us,” he added.

Bahrain are next in action on Thursday when they play Thailand at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai.


Source: the-afc.com