Bahrain make it to Asian Cup semis
(Xinhua/Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-31 10:34

Bahrain made it to the Asian Cup semifinals on Friday as they beat Uzbekistan 4-3 in the penalty shootout after the two sides drew 2-2 in 120 minutes.

Uzbekistan 2 Bahrain 2 - result (after extra time)

Bahrain win 4-3 on penalties

Asian Cup, quarter-final

Scorers:

Uzbekistan - Alexander Geynrikh 60, Vladimir Shishelov 87

Bahrain - A'ala Hubail 71, 77

Halftime: 0-0 Enditem

The Bahrainis celebrates after making their team to the Asian Cup semifinals on Friday, July 30, 2004 [Xinhua]

Change in tactics paid off: Juricic

Srecko Juricic’s decision to change his attacking lineup against Uzbekistan ultimately paid dividends for Bahrain as the Gulf side prevailed in a penalty shootout on Friday to advance to the last four of the Asian Cup 2004.

For what was the biggest match in the history of Bahraini football, Juricic opted to change around his attack, bringing in striker Mohammed Jaffar for Husain Ali and switching playmaker Talal Yusuf to the left side of midfield.

“This match was a big challenge for our team because it was our first time in the quarter-finals and we knew that Uzbekistan had played three good matches without conceding any goals,” explained the Bahrain coach.

“So we tried to use some suitable tactics and play a little differently from our last match.”

As a result of the changes, the Bahrainis took the game to their opponents in the first half and were unlucky not to be ahead at the break. Their attacking endeavours continued after the break as they came from behind to lead 2-1 before a late Uzbek equalizer forced extra-time and, ultimately, a penalty shootout, which his team won 4-3.

Talal Yusuf’s move to the left proved a masterstroke as the 29-year-old caused so many problems for right wing-back Anvarjon Soliev that Uzbekistan coach Ravshan Haydarov decided to replace Soliev with Ildar Magdeev after just 33 minutes.

“Talal usually starts in the middle but today, we got him to play on the left. It meant that he could cut in and shoot on his right foot and it also surprised our opponents,” said a beaming Juricic to FootballAsia.com after the post-match press conference.

Juricic was concerned though with his team’s fitness in the closing minutes of extra-time when they were visibly fatigued and curtailed their attacking ambitions for the first time in the match.

“Of course, fitness was a concern in the last 15 minutes of extra time and we had to be careful against Uzbekistan’s counter-attack because all of our players were very tired,” said the Croat.

“However, we now have time to recover for the semi-finals. Our team is good and we are getting more confident with every game we play.”

Juricic admits that it would be tough though to top the drama and excitement of the quarter-final with Uzbekistan, which was a tremendous advertisement for Asian football.

“It was an excellent match with many scoring opportunities, four goals and plenty of excitement. The 2-2 result would have been just if we could just have shared the points, but this is the quarter-finals and unfortunately, we needed penalties to decide.

“Fortunately for us, we were the ones who managed to win at the end!”

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