The final day of round of 16 fixtures at the Asian Cup will begin with Bahrain taking on Japan on Wednesday at Al Thumama Stadium.
A 1-0 victory over Jordan on matchday three was enough to see Bahrain finish top of Group E with six points, the same as Japan, though the record four-time Asian Cup winners wound up second in Group D despite a 3-1 triumph versus Indonesia.
After a tough opening loss to South Korea, Bahrain bounced back nicely, winning their final two matches by a 1-0 score and finishing at the top of their group for the first time in this competition.
It is a big contrast from what Juan Antonio Pizzi's men showed us in their games leading up to this tournament, losing their final two preparatory matches 2-0 both times.
Wednesday will only be their third appearance in the knockout stage of his tournament, and they have only won their opening Asian Cup knockout fixture once before, outlasting Uzbekistan on penalties in 2004 (4-3) after that game ended in a 2-2 draw.
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