Qantas Joeys to face Bahrain in final

The Qantas Joeys will meet Bahrain in the final of the Asean Under 16 Youth Championship being held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Qantas Joeys will meet Bahrain in the final of the Asean Under 16 Youth Championship being held in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Finishing top of the group unbeaten, Australia-s opponent in the final was determined yesterday, after Bahrain drew 1-1 with Malaysia, to finish ahead of them on goal difference.

Malaysia can consider themselves extremely unlucky not to be in the final, having led from the 15th minute, only for Bahrain to equalise in the dying minutes of the match and ensure their place in the final.

The Qantas Joeys will start favourites for the final but can expect a tough match against the West Asian team, after they faced off in the opening match that saw Australia win 2-1.

Coach Martyn Crook believes his team will be ready for the match, but says Bahrain will be tough opposition.

“We are really pleased with how things have gone,” he said from the teams- hotel. “We qualified nice and early and we-ve had plenty of time to recuperate and get ready for this game.

“They-re (Bahrain) a tough team. They are mentally strong; very aggressive outfit and they-ve got some talented individual players as well, so we-re expecting a tough game.

“We have two injuries, which will rule players out, but we should be able to cover those with players that we have bought here and Kamal is back from his suspension, so we are right.

“I think we have progressively got better as the week has gone on in terms of out team play. Although we won the first game and pretty much dominated against Bahrain, we didn-t play as well as in the other games.

“We have tended to play better in the evening games; it-s a bit cooler and they wet the pitch a bit, so we-re happy with it being a 7pm (kick-off) at night as well,” he added.

Final Table