Hamad appointed to coach Bahrain at Asian Cup

MANAMA — Former Iraq and Jordan coach Adnan Hamad will lead Bahrain to next year’s Asian Cup in Australia after he was appointed as the replacement for Englishman Anthony Hudson. Hudson’s abrupt resignation last week to take up the vacant post in charge of the New Zealand national team threw Bahrain’s preparations for January’s continental championship into disarray. The Bahrain Football Association (BFA) initially said they would pursue Hudson in the courts for leaving a few months into a two-year contract but ultimately decided to focus their efforts on securing a replacement. Hamad, Asia’s coach of the year in 2004 in one of several spells in charge of his native Iraq, led Jordan to the quarter-finals of the 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar. He also oversaw an impressive qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup, in which Jordan beat Australia and Asian champions Japan.