All teams evenly matched, says Bahrain coach

Abu Dhabi: Hans-Peter Briegel, the head coach of Bahrain, believes that the standard of all teams who will play in the 18th Gulf Cup starting on January 17 is equal.

"I believe that all the teams have an equal chance to win the title because they have almost similar standards," said Briegel, who last night led Bahrain in a friendly match against Inter Milan.

The match is regarded as their strongest preparation for the tournament.

Briegel said that his countryman Berti Vogts has given him valuable tips on the Gulf Cup. Vogts coached Kuwait in the 15th Gulf Cup in Saudi Arabia in 2001 but was sacked because of the team's poor performance.

Bahrain will compete in Group B against Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the Kuwait national team has left to Cairo for a short training camp.

The technical staff has omitted Faraj Laheeb and Khalaf Al Salamah from the line-up which has made their supporters angry as both the players are regarded as outstanding strikers.

Ebrahim Marzoug, the team coach, said that both Laheeb and Al Salamah did not feature for their clubs recently and will not be able to help the team in the Gulf Cup.

The same has happened in Oman, where head coach Milan Macala has excluded Hani Al Dhabit, the former captain, from the list of players. Oman will face the UAE in the opener.

Marcos Bakita, the technical manager of Saudi Arabia, said that his team needs to brush up the defence were they are committing fatal mistakes especially from high crosses.

"It was the main reason for our defeat against Japan in the last match of the Asian Cup qualifiers," Bakita said in a press conference. Japan beat Saudi Arabia 3-1 as both teams reached the finals.