Bahrain’s Argentinian coach Sergio Batista admitted that despite the difference in FIFA rankings between the two teams, with Bahrain seated at 108 and the Philippines at 137, he still expects a competitive duel between the Azkals and the Reds on Thursday.
“It will be a strong match against us. But we’re here to achieve our goal and we’ll play to get the three points tomorrow,” he said during the pre-match press conference Wednesday at EDSA Shangri-La
Batista said that Bahrain will definitely shoot for the win when the Reds take on the Azkals in the first leg of their Fifa World Cup qualifying match at the Philippine Sports Stadium pitch.
“I want to have a good and big match against Philippines tomorrow. We’ll take it seriously,” said the former coach of the Argentinian national team.
Team captain Saied Mohamed Jaffar agreed with his coach’s statement, saying, “We know it won’t be an easy game, but we’re preparing ourselves to be ready tomorrow.”
Batista also doesn’t want the fans to look back at his history of coaching hoping for great results, but rather, he wants to start a new quest with the Bahrain national team.
“Our focus is the players, the team, and the new journey in the Asian qualifications,” said Batista, who coached the gold medal-winning Argentinian U-23 squad in the 2008 Summer Olympics before ascending to the senior men’s squad for a year from 2010 to 2011.
“My goal is to qualify for the World Cup and run a new project with Bahrain in the next two years.”
And it all starts on Thursday when the squad faces the Philippines. CFC