All Whites captain Ryan Nelsen (centre) celebrates with teammate Ivan Vicelich after New Zealand had beaten Bahrain 1-0 to qualify for the 2010 football World Cup.
Beaten coach Milan Macala continues to avoid the media but there has been no lack of reaction - all of it negative - to his side's World Cup failure at the hands of New Zealand with the missed penalty labelled "a national shame".
Macala, the 66-year-old Czech under pressure for his job now, has failed to front up with his reasons for Bahrain's 1-nil loss to New Zealand in Wellington on Saturday night, a result that sent the All Whites through to next year's World Cup finals in South Africa.
But the Gulf Daily News didn't hold back in condemning this Bahrain performance. Football writer Vijay Mruthyunjaya was at the Cake Tin to witness the Bahrain meltdown amidst some relentless All Whites pressure.
Here's how he summed it up: "It was supposed to be the dawn of a new era but it turned out to be darkness at noon for Bahrain. No, the reasons were not due to any celestial malfunctioning or effects of climate change, but merely due to human errors at ground level.
"A botched penalty when an away goal was all that was needed to clinch a World Cup berth for the first time and a litany of basic errors combined with repeated blunders cost Bahrain dear.
"Like four years ago, Bahrain did not come agonisingly close this time around. They missed the plane by 'no show'.
"The team on view was hardly recognisable, the defenders repeatedly fumbled, the midfielders made basic errors and the forwards seemed to have left their shooting boots back home at the National Stadium in Riffa which is about 15,000km from here and around 10 hours behind.
"And that attempt from the penalty spot was a national shame. Once the golden opportunity was missed, the Bahraini players' shoulders seemed to drop noticeably and their body language changed drastically. From there on it was only a matter of time as all their half attempts were well-thwarted by a solid defence and an even more solid goalkeeper Mark Paston.
"Thus Bahrain's ambitious bid to become a beacon for tiny nations vying for global glory ended on a gloomy note on a cold and bone-chilling wintry night at the packed Westpac Stadium in Wellington."
Macala's silence was in contrast to leading football figures in Bahrain. Here's how they reacted to another missed opportunity with penalty-taker Sayed Mohammed Adnan copping plenty of criticism.
Successful Muharraq club coach Salman Sharida: "I was excited and confident that Bahrain would make it through to South Africa, but after watching the team miss all those chances again like they did in the first leg, I had some fear that New Zealand were going to surprise us, and they did. The Bahrain team received all support they need but failed to live up to their billings"
Bahrain beach soccer head coach Gustavo Zloccowick: "Some players were nervous out there, maybe the pressure got to their heads. I was surprised that Sayed Mohammed Adnan did not convert the penalty; he is always a sure-shot. We missed our chance."
Al Shabab club coach Jassim Mohammed: "It was a big shock for me and to all Bahrain. I never thought the same scenario of our match against Trinidad and Tobago four years ago will be repeated. Even the goal that we conceded was very similar to the one against Trinidad. We were hoping that the team would have learnt from that match, but the players in general were not in their form and again showed disarray in the crucial stages of the game."
Ad Feedback Al Najma club coach Abdulaziz Amin: "That was an awful shot by Sayed Mohammed Adnan for the penalty. I think he was under a lot of pressure because he is also fighting to win the 2009 Asian Player of the Year award. I also think Milan Macala should have produced two strikers from the beginning instead of one to pile more pressure on New Zealand."
Bahrain have to rebound quickly from this World Cup disappointment. They face Yemen in a crucial Asian Cup qualifying match at home in Manama on Thursday.
Source:stuff.co.nz/
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