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| 2010 FIFA World Cup |
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| BHR 0-1 AUS: We can still make it says Macala |
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| Bahrain Coach Milan Macala insists the Gulf side can still make it to the World Cup finals. |
MANAMA – Bahrain coach Milan Macala believes that his side can still secure a place in South Africa 2010 despite a heart-breaking 1-0 home loss to Australia on that left them stuck at the bottom of Group A.
The Bahrainis dominated proceedings but went down to a Mark Bresciano strike in the fourth minute of added time.
The result left Macala’s side with only one point from three games, eight adrift of the Australians and six behind second-placed Japan, who hammered Qatar 3-0.
Despite his obvious disappointment, Macala felt heartened by the performance of his players.
"The game was important for us and we put on a great performance as we wanted to get the three points," said the Czech coach in the post-match press conference.
"We had seven clear chances in front of the Australian goal but we couldn't score.
"Our players showed fighting spirit and Australia scored from the only mistake that we made in the game. We always make such mistakes against big teams and consequently lose these matches.”
With five games left for his side in the qualifiers, Macala is not ready to throw in the towel yet.
"Our target from the beginning of the qualifiers was to finish third in the group. The defeat tonight doesn't mean the end of our campaign as we will fight until the last match in the qualifiers.
"Our mission has become harder but it is not impossible. If we continue with the same sort of performance in our next matches then I'm sure that we can get the necessary points."
Australia coach Pim Verbeek was unimpressed by his team’s display but relieved with the three points that maintained their perfect record in the group.
"We didn't have a good performance although we tried our best to improve our game in the second half," said the Dutchman.
"The players didn't give what was expected from them and that gave Bahrain the opportunity to control the game.
"Bahrain created a lot of chances and they nearly scored from those chances. They showed a good performance but although have played well so far in the qualifiers they have not been lucky.
"We should improve our performances in our next matches especially as we will play against Japan in our next match.
"I talked to the players and they know that they didn't perform well and we will try our best to improve it."
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