Adrian Whitbread, the English coach of Bahrain U-23, was content with their goalless draw against Singapore in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup yesterday while his counterpart Richard Bok also echoed similar sentiment.
The former West Ham United player, Whitbread revealed that his players are not the first choice as he said, “A number of players were involved with the national team in Australia, many others have their club commitments with Gulf Club Championships. This team contains new players and the way they played I am happy with it.”
Meanwhile, Bok informed, “We have picked out a new team and after playing two matches here I have a fair idea about forming the perfect U-23 team for the Olympic Qualifiers. I think 8 to 10 players proved their worth to be picked for the main team.”
The Singapore U-23 coach praised his 19-year-old defender Aravin who produced an excellent performance on the day thwarting two Bahrain goal attempts from the goal line. Bok also regretted conceding the third goal against Thailand as he thinks that goal erased their chances of making it to the semis.