Miroslav Soukup praise side"s grit and determination after they profess to the knockout stages in the UAE. Gulf side likely to face winners of Group B or C. LONDON: Bahrain coach Miroslav Soukup praised his side’s fighting spirit after they made it through to the knockout stages of the Asian Cup. A late penalty from Jamal Rashed was enough to give the Gulf side a 1-0 win over India, which along with the UAE’s 1-1 draw against Thailand was enough to make it to the second round as they leap-frogged India into third place. That left the Bahrain boss in awe of his players. “I am very proud because we know their (India) style of play from previous matches. They are very strong in counter attacks and my players were ready for that,” said Soukup. “This is the first time in the tournament my players followed my instructions to the tee and we played exactly like in training. It was an amazing game today, we created many chances and didn’t give India any space.” Bahrain’s win has set up a meeting with the winners of either Group B or C and the Czech coach praised his players for their focus and determination. “My players really had the belief that they were stronger than the opponents and we played well. They believed they would score even until the final minute,” the 53-year-old said. “Two times in a row, we were unlucky with penalties (against UAE and Thailand). Thank God for the penalty, it was our lucky day today.”