Bahrain will go into the 2007 finals aiming to repeat the success of their second AFC Asian Cup finals appearance three years ago in China, when they surprised everyone with a fourth-placed finish.

Having not qualified for Asia's premier tournament since 1988, Bahrain kicked off their campaign in 2004 with a surprising 2-2 draw against hosts and eventual finalists China.

That impressive result was followed up with another draw against Qatar before Bahrain rounded off their Group A campaign with a 3-1 victory against Indonesia to ensure they joined group leaders China in the quarter-finals of the competition.
They then edged out Uzbekistan in the last eight thanks to a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw that saw Ala'a Hubail bag a brace, and the striker was on target again in the semi-finals when Bahrain met defending champions Japan.

However, their opponent's experience eventually told and they scored the winning goal in the third minute of stoppage time through Keiji Tamada to end Bahrain's unexpected run before losing the third-place play-off 4-2 to Iran.

But they will once again be lining up alongside Asia's best this summer in Indonesia after finishing second in qualifying Group D behind newcomers Australia. After losing two of their first three matches in the qualifiers, Bahrain's hopes of making this summer's tournament rested on their last home game against Kuwait, who needed only a draw to qualify.

But goals in the first half from skipper Talal Yusuf and Salman Issa set Bahrain on their way, and they eventually triumphed 2-1 to make it through thanks to a better head-to-head record against their opponents.

However, Bahrain have been handed a tough draw in Group D as they will come up against co-hosts Indonesia, double Asian Cup winners Korea Republic and neighbours Saudi Arabia, who have won the competition three times.

And the kingdom signaled their intentions that they are keen to compete in Indonesia by acquiring coach Milan Macala, who has plenty of experience in Gulf football after having previously taken charge of the Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman national teams.
Macala will be building his Asian Cup squad around several key players who earn a living in the Qatar and Kuwait leagues, including joint top-scorer from the 2004 competition Ala'a Hubail, skipper Yusuf and Hubail's strike partner Ali.

The Czech boss will also call on defenders Hussain Baba, Sayed Adnan Mohamed, Ebrahim Mishkhas, Abdulla Al Marzooq, Salman Isa Ghuloom, Mohamed Husain, plus midfielders Sayed Mahmood Jalal, Hamad Rakea and Mohamed Salmeen.

Bahrain's success at the 2004 Asian Cup finals saw a number of their players move abroad. As a result, the national side is now a more experienced and talented proposition and they will be out to prove they can provide a real test for their rivals.

Goalkeepers
1 Ali Hasan Al Thani
21 Abdulrahman Abdulkarim
22 Ali Saeed
28 Abbas Ahmed
Defenders
2 Mohamed Husain
3 Abdulla Marzooq
4 Jassem Al Maloud
5 Ahmed Matar
14 Salman Isa
16 Sayed Mohamed
17 Husain Baba
19 Ali Al Shehabi
23 Ebrahim Mishkhas
25 Fawzi Ayesh
Midfielders
6 Salem Mousa
7 Sayed Mahmood Jalal
8 Rashed Al Dosari
10 Mohamed Salmeen
12 Abdulla Baba Fatadi
13 Talal Yusuf
15 Abdullah Omar
18 Husain Salman
24 Hamad Al Anezi
27 Mahmoud Abdulrahman
29 Mohamed Hubail
Forwards
9 Husain Ali
11 Ismaeel Abdullatif
20 Ahmed Hassan
26 Jaycee John Akwani
30 A'ala Hubail