Taylor: Bahrain have a mountain to climb

Seven months after assuming the Bahrain reins, Peter Taylor seems to be warming to his task. In his first coaching job overseas, the Englishman led his side to gold in December's Arab Games in Doha. However, the team’s progress in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ qualifiers has been less assured. Bahrain reached the play-offs for both Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010, but their chances of emerging from Group E in the third qualifying round for the next global finals look very slim, given that they lie third behind Iran and Qatar. Destination Bahrain via online research Following a coaching career in his homeland that included stints with Leicester City, Hull City, Bradford City and England’s U-21s, Taylor was installed in the Bahrain hot-seat last July and enjoyed immediate success, guiding his charges to victory at the inaugural Gulf Cooperation Council Games. Despite starting from scratch in the small Gulf kingdom, the former Tottenham Hotspur winger quickly got to grips with Bahraini football and led his side to a second title at the Pan Arab Games late last year. Unsurprisingly, Taylor is enjoying the ride. “It’s been a great experience to date,” he told FIFA.com. “We’ve had a number of great results, though it was difficult at first because it’s the first time I’ve coached outside of England. I had to get to know the people I’d be working with, but the great thing is that everyone has helped me to do my job, including the players themselves.” Taylor is the first to admit he knew nothing about the country’s football before this year: “When I got the offer, I had to go online and find out about Bahraini football. I was also helped out by a friend of mine who’d done some coaching in Japan and had a better idea of the standard of the game in Bahrain. I was encouraged enough to accept!” Mission improbable But despite his two successes, Bahrain’s qualifying campaign for Brazil 2014 has proved much more challenging. With just one game left in the third round of the Asian Zone qualifiers, his side lie third in their group behind the already-qualified Iran and second-placed Qatar. Their final game, at home to Indonesia on 29 February, is a vital match for the Gulf side. If they are to go through to the fourth and final qualifying round, they must win by a sizeable margin and hope Iran beat Qatar in the group’s other game. Taylor is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge ahead. “We’ve got a mountain to climb,” he said: “We have to beat Indonesia and hope Iran do the same to Qatar. It’s not an ideal position to be in. We were hoping to be where Qatar are now, with the best chance of going through.”