Soccer: Closing Gulf in their knowledge

The All Whites are happy with their extensive homework on Bahrain, but the Gulf state side is a difficult study for most of the Kiwi sporting public.

The first leg of this World Cup qualifier will be an early-morning venture into the unknown for a New Zealand public that gets rare glimpses of its own team and wouldn't know Bahrain's players from grains of sand.

New Zealand are ranked at 100 by Fifa and Bahrain 64, a rough guide to their prospects.

Identifying the Bahrain players will not come easy - for English speakers their squad contains a confusing array of names which are variations on Mohammed, Hussain and Abdulla.

The clear exception to this tangle of handles is their Nigerian striker Jaycee John.

A YouTube clip shows John's potential for dazzling skills on the ball.

Fellow striker Hussain Ali is nicknamed "Pele", which suggests he also has potential for magic.

However Bahrain struggled for goals in their Asia group qualifying section, which was led by Australia and Japan and tailed by Qatar and Uzbekistan.

Despite scoring three victories from eight, Bahrain netted just six times.

They have had a solid buildup and for a couple of seasons have had camps in Austria with friendlies against European clubs including Inter Milan.

Unlike their major rivals, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain accepts its players coming under the influence of foreign ways at overseas clubs. A handful are based abroad, notably midfielders Abdulla Abdi Omar and Abdulla Fatai (Switzerland) and John (Belgium).

Saudi Arabia are the traditional heavyweights of the region and were set for another finals appearance before tripping against Bahrain at the final hurdle.

The Saudi campaign was unsteady with one coach sacked and his successor quitting, which puts a perspective on Bahrain's success.

Bahrain are shooting for their first World Cup finals and with a population around 700,000 would be the smallest country to ever reach the big stage.

What impresses from their qualifying campaign is that they pushed Australia - who were controversially pipped by eventual winners Italy at the last World Cup - in two narrow defeats.

They didn't wilt either after falling behind to an extra-time Saudi goal in the second leg of their qualifier.

The Saudis celebrated wildly in their King Fahd International Stadium after getting ahead 2-1. But their euphoria died when Bahrain struck back to claim the draw that got them this far.

Rather than try and hold the ball near the corner, Saudi Arabia allowed Bahrain to quickly reclaim possession.

The visitors played calmly and cleverly out of their own penalty box and forced a corner from which they scored the historical last-gasp winner via a 10-metre header from replacement striker Ismail Abdullatif.

A preview might suggest Bahrain are more comfortable and intricate on the ball and will have the better of possession while New Zealand have the more physical and direct approach.

An Australian media colleague and football writer says that Bahrain's Czech coach Milan Macala, a "master tactician", concentrated on set pieces in Australia and packed his midfield while playing Jaycee John as a lone striker.

"I'd imagine Bahrain would be a little more cocky against New Zealand - they only needed a point in that game against Australia and based the tactics around that," he said. "[Midfielder] Abdullah Abdi Omar ... can create real problems. John is a very dangerous player - quick, strong and skilful."