Asian Cup 2015: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain to finalise tournament preparations in friendly

SAUDI Arabia and Bahrain will launch their assaults on next month’s Asian Cup with a friendly at Geelong’s Simonds Stadium on Tuesday night.

Saudi Arabia team training.

SAUDI Arabia and Bahrain will launch their assaults on next month’s Asian Cup with a friendly at Geelong’s Simonds Stadium on Tuesday night.

The Persian Gulf nations have both based themselves in regional Victoria - Saudi Arabia in Torquay and Bahrain in Ballarat - and both arrived in Australia over the weekend.

The Saudis conducted an open training session at the Banyul-Warri Fields on Saturday before getting a look at Simonds Stadium on Sunday.

The team, ranked 102 in the world, was officially welcomed to the region at a ceremony on the Surf Coast on Monday morning.

Bahrain has set up camp at Ballarat’s Morshead Park, where they will train until next Wednesday before shifting to Melbourne ahead of their opening Asian Cup game against Iran at AAMI Park on January 11.

Team manager Muhannad Al Ansari told local media the Ballarat camp site was chosen so the players could focus purely on training.

“We didn’t want the hassles and distractions of the city,” he said.

Tickets to Tuesday’s game, which kicks off at 7pm, are free at the gate.

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain to finalise tournament preparations in friendly