Bahrain’s Waleed Al Hayam in action.
Doha, Qatar: Waleed Al Hayam says Bahrain are ready for a tough encounter but confident of their chances against four-time champions Japan when they meet in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Round of 16 at the Al Thumama Stadium today.
Bahrain’s confidence is sky high after they bounced back from an opening day 3-1 defeat against South Korea to top Group E with wins against Malaysia and Jordan.
“We have great respect for Japan, and our focus will be 1,000 percent. We need to be patient, and hopefully, we will deliver our best,” said the 35-year-old Bahrain captain.
“We are going into the match to win, regardless of who the opponents are. The priority is to win every match; there are no big opponents, and we respect Japan. Hopefully, it will be a good match for us.”
The Al Muharraq SC defender believes Bahrain can spring a surprise against heavily favoured Japan, drawing inspiration from Iraq’s 2-1 victory over the East Asian side in the group stage.
“We know what we must do. We all saw how Iraq defeated Japan, who were favourites in that match and then, we saw Jordan defeat Iraq (in the Round of 16). Iraq were the favourites but lost.
“We will go into the match fully focused on delivering a good performance. The dressing room atmosphere is fantastic. We have a lot of players with experience, and we are ready and looking forward to it.”
