Azkals to face doubly hungry Bahrain

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Azkals will face a Bahrain side that will be doubly hungry for victory in tomorrow’s match in an effort to salvage whatever they could in Group H of the Fifa World Cup qualifiers.

The Bahrainis suffered a 0-4 home defeat at the hands of Uzbekistan last Thursday, leaving them stuck with just three points halfway through the double-round robin, home-and-away group play behind North Korea’s 10, Uzbekistan’s nine and the Azkals’ seven.

“The loss sees us virtually out of the World Cup qualifications but we still have the Asia Cup qualifications to go through and we will have a must-win mentality in all our games,” Bahrain coach Sergio Batista said.

He’s referring to the next stage of the Asian Cup qualifiers, where the teams ousted from the World Cup qualifiers will get to see action and vie for slots to the continental showpiece.

Azkals coach Thomas Dooley, whose wards are coming off a confidence-building scoreless draw with North Korea in Pyongyang last week, understands the situation fully against back-to-the-wall Bahrain.