BAHRAIN will play two international friendly matches next month as part of their preparations for the Asian Cup 2007 to be held in July. National soccer team coach Milan Macala, who arrived in the Kingdom yesterday to begin his term with Bahrain, revealed his plans over the next two months leading up to the tournament which will be held in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam beginning on July 7.
Bahrain's pre-tournament schedule includes a friendly against the UAE in Kuala Lumpur on June 27 and will be followed by a match against Vietnam in Hanoi on either June 30 or July 1.
From there, the team will fly to Jakarta on July 2 for the Asian Cup.
Macala added that the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) is currently trying to set up a third friendly either on July 3 or 4, most likely against a Malaysian First Division side.
"These friendly matches will be good for our players to get some experience before the Asian Cup. We must start working seriously from now on," Macala told the GDN.
"Our team manager Abdulaziz Ashraf recently returned from those countries after making all the prepartions for the friendlies. All we need now is to get our complete team together, which may only happen after a few more weeks," said Macala.
Prior to travelling to eastern Asia for their friendlies, Macala will conduct a 12-day training camp from June 11 and 22 in Europe, most likely in Austria. The team will also play two friendly matches against local clubs in Vienna.
The team will return to the Kingdom on the evening of June 22 and the players will have a day off the next day before leaving for Malaysia on June 24.
Macala said that the players will under go medical tests before leaving for Europe. A minimum of 25 players will attend camp, added the Czech coach.
The top two teams in each of the four groups will move into the quarter-finals.
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