Why Mohamed Salmeen Is Bahrain's Most Valuable Player

Nov. 14 2009. The date I firmly believe Bahrain will finally qualify for the World Cup (InshAllah).

Of the players on show with the national team, from Salman Isa to Ismail Abdullatif, from Sayed Mohamed Adnan to Mahmood Abdulrahman, one player stands out.

This player is non other than our team captain, Mohamed Ahmed Salmeen. At 28 years of age, Salmeen is the lynchpin of the Bahraini midfeild. The central midfielder dominates the game whenever he plays, his excellent vision and passing allows him to dictate the pace of matches.

Salmeen is one of the team's most experienced players, and has been in the side ever since 2000. He took part alongside other current Bahraini stars, such as Hussain Ali, Mohamed Hussain, and Salman Isa, in the 2002 World Cup qualifiers where, for the first time, Bahrain reached the second round of qualifying.

A few years later after being named the Gulf's best player during competitions such as the Arabian Gulf Cup, and making the 2004 Asian Cup team of the tournament, Salmeen, as national team captain, helped Bahrain to get past Uzbekistan in a play-off that guaranteed them a two-legged route to the World Cup against Trinidad and Tobago.

In the first game in Port-of-Spain, Salmeen played one of his best ever games, pulling the strings in the midfield to give Bahrain a valuable 1-1 away draw. Sadly he was suspended in the return leg due to a yellow card. Subsequently, the Salmeen-less Bahraini side lost 1-0 in that famous match at The National Stadium in Riffa. A match many Bahrainis including me, would like to forget.

Now what this first part of the article proves, is that, Mohamed Salmeen has all the experience he needs to lead us to South Africa. One of the many reasons that he is our most valuable player.

His immense skill, and ability to control games, as alluded to earlier is another.

This was displayed time and time again during the qualifying rounds to the 2010 World Cup. Excellent displays against big teams such as Japan, Australia, Uzbekistan, and Saudi Arabia just go to show how good Salmeen really is.

He is a very powerful player, that is tall and agile. His height helps him win balls in the air, and his physical strength makes him an excellent tackler, and ball winner as well. It is characteristic of Salmeen to start plays by winning the ball in the middle of the park, dribbling past one or two players, and then making a perfectly timed pass that opens up the game. He does not score that many goals, but he is involved in almost all of Bahrain's goals while he is playing on the pitch.

Mohamed Salmeen is not just an extremly technically gifted, and physically strong player, but is a leader on, and off the pitch.

His mere presence on the field gives players and fans a lift. Not to mention the fact that he is one of the most vocal players around. Always trying to get the rest of the players to be at their best, and protesting every decision from the referee.

Salmeen is a legacy in Bahrain as well. He is following in the footsteps of his father, the great Ahmed Salmeen, who was one of the best players, ever, in history of Bahraini football. The man who wears the famous No. 10 jersey always has a responsibility to be at his best.

Recapping on the last game against New Zealand. With a focus on Mohamed Salmeen, he did not make a wrong pass throughout the entire game, and was the main source of energy in the Bahrain squad, the heartbeat of the midfield as always. He created many chances, especially the one for Salman Isa which narrowly hit the post in an open goal.

With 90 minutes standing between Bahrain and South Africa 2010, Bahrain cannot do much to the team. All we can do now is hope the team is ready for the game in Wellington, and hope that our captain, Mohamed Salmeen, can provide some inspiration, and lead The Reds of Bahrain to that long awaited World Cup this summer in South Africa.

Its now or never for the Reds, another generation of players like Salmeen and Co. will be hard to come again, so this is our time. Lets do it for the people of Bahrain!