The national futsal team has received great applause from senior sports officials after successfully qualifying for their first-ever AFC Futsal Championship finals.
The Bahrainis secured a spot in the continental competition after beating the UAE with a resounding 4-1 win to clinch top spot in Group A in the qualifying competition in Bangkok recently.

"First of all, I'd like to thank everyone from the Bahrain Football Association, to the players and staff that have helped us to reach here. It was a hard game for us, but we did our best and we tried to control the game from beginning to end," said Bahrain coach Adel Al Marzooqi.

"I really am happy because this is my first time coaching the national team and we've qualified for the 2018 Finals. We got a few months to practice and we hope to repeat our performance next year."
Supreme Council for Youth and Sports deputy general secretary and Bahrain Olympic Committee (BOC) general secretary Abdulrahman Askar welcomed the team on return and congratulated them on their performance and achievement in winning a spot in next year’s world event, to be held in Chinese Taipei.

Askar conveyed the greetings and congratulations of HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa the representative of His Majesty the King for Charity Works and Youth Affairs, Supreme Council for Youth and Sports Chairman, and BOC President to the team and his best wishes for them in the Asian Championship.

Bahrain Football Association president Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, who was also present at the reception ceremony, expressed pride for this first-of-its-kind achievement for Bahrain futsal after topping the qualifying stages and making history by punching their ticket into the Asian Championship finals.