Bahrain under the radar in Sydney

All Whites in Wellington

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CRAIG SMICOX/Dominion Post. Zoom

All Whites training at Whitby.

Nelsen baffled by Bahrain decision

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As the All Whites get feted in Wellington their World Cup qualifying opponents Bahrain have slipped quietly into Sydney, virtually anonymous as they started their training preparations there for Saturday night's match.

Milan Macala's hopes of a low-key buildup across the Tasman look to have been realised.

Australia's football focus at the moment is on the Socceroos' Asian Cup qualifier with Oman in the capital city of Muscat on Saturday.

Bahrain haven't rated a mention in the Sydney media and that's the way Macala likes it. They have chosen to avoid the hype in the Kiwi capital and will only arrive in New Zealand on Thursday.

Bahrain travelled to Australia by a specially chartered jet and got into Sydney in the early hours of Tuesday morning without any fanfare and the squad bussed to their hotel.

They had the morning off before an afternoon practice session in warm conditions with no crowd unlike the All Whites who trained in front of about 300 fans in Wellington.

Macala put his Bahrain squad through some technical drills and finished with a practice game.

Bahrain media reported that there was only one player missing training because of injury concerns.

Defender Mohammed Hussain, who is recovering from a recent back muscle pain sustained during his Qatar Umm Salal team's semifinal match against Pohang Steelers of South Korea in the Asian Champions League, was training alone with his physiotherapist Khalil Ebrahim.

Striker Jaycee John was absent from practice as he was a late arrival from Belgium after leading his club Excelsior Mouscron FC to a 1-0 away victory over KV Mechelen last Saturday.

- © Fairfax NZ News