BAHRAIN survived a late barrage to come away with a hard-earned goalless draw against Iraq last night in the eighth West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Championship in Doha, reports Patrick Salomon.

The match was Bahrain’s second and final fixture in Group ‘B’ of the tournament’s preliminary round. The result put them temporarily on top of their division, but their hopes of advancing to the semi-finals are now out of their hands.

Only the top team from each of the three groups move on to the final four, along with the best-ranked runner-up. That will be decided on Tuesday when Iraq take on Oman in a winner-take-all clash.

A victory for either the Iraqis or Omanis would send them through as the group winners, while another draw will require a complicated tie-break to separate the three teams.

Both Bahrain and Iraq had several chances to win yesterday’s hotly contested game, and Iraq had the best of the opportunities right before the final whistle.

But Bahraini goalkeeper Sayed Mohammed Jaffar kept things level. He was in brilliant form throughout the match, especially in the end when he single-handedly saved the nationals’ waning defence.

Substitute striker Dhurgham Ismael nearly won it for the Iraqis. He had a couple of chances that nearly found its way into the net, the first a header off a free-kick that was just about collected by a diving Jaffar.

Jaffar was busy in the second-half. Midway through, a defensive blunder by midfielder Sayed Ahmed Jaafar almost cost the Bahrainis dearly. Amjed Al Muntafik claimed possession and took advantage of a clear path to goal, but his shot from an acute angle was parlayed by Jaffar.

On the other end, the nationals had promising possessions but never really threatened Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hachim.

Scary

Bahrain’s Ebrahim Habib had a scary moment early in the second-half following some rough play by Iraq’s Waleed Al Lami, who deliberately elbowed him right in the centre of his neck. Habib went down clutching his throat with both hands but Al Lami’s unsportsmanlike behaviour went unpunished.

In the first-half, Iraq dominated the opening stages, but then it was Bahrain’s turn midway through and the nationals created their best chances before the interval.

But goalkeeper Jaffar helped keep things scoreless with a few good saves before he break. His best came during the first minute of stoppage time, after Iraq were rewarded a free-kick from around 30 yards out.

Meanwhile, in yesterday’s other game in Group ‘A’, Palestine and Saudi Arabia played a goalless draw. Only one goal has been scored so far in the competition after five matches.

Tonight’s action pits Lebanon against Kuwait in Group ‘C’.