Adil Al Balushi
MUSCAT, Sept 5
Oman Olympic (U-23) football team suffered a 3-0 defeat against Saudi Arabia Olympic team in a preparatory match late on Saturday at King Faisal bin Fahad Stadium in Riyadh. The preparatory fixture is part of the Oman team's camp in Saudi Arabia in preparation for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in October.
Saudi’s Firas Al Burikan put his team ahead in the sixth minute while his teammate Firas al Ghamdi added the second goal. Mohammed Miran netted the third goal in the dying minutes of the match.
Despite the loss, Oman's Croatian coach Dario Basic and his assistance coach Mohammed Khamis al Oraimi assessed the players’ performance. The coaching staff tested several players during the game and implemented tactical plans as the players got into real match experience after an interval.
The head coach will try to finalise the starting line-up during the ongoing camp ahead of taking the Asian qualifier games later next month. The second preparatory encounter with Saudi Arabia team is scheduled on Tuesday and on the same day Oman senior team will face Saudi Arabia in a tough Gulf clash in the deciding round qualifiers – Road to Qatar 2022 at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.
The Olympic team will commence their campaign in Asian qualifier with a match against India on October 25 while they will meet Kyrgyzstan on October 28. The concluding match will be against the United Arab Emirates on October 31. The finals of the AFC Asian (U-23) will be held in September 2022 in Uzbekistan from September 6 to 25.
OMAN U-23 SQUAD: Essam al Makhzoomi, Faisal al Harthy, Arshad al Alawi, Yahya al Hudaifi, Awadh al Shari, Hussain al Shari, Najeeb al Shujaibi, Jasim al Noubi, Fahad Bait Obaidan, Essa al Naabi, Saud al Habsi, Al Baraa al Maawali, Islam al Hinai, Fahad al Hajri, Ibrahim al Rajhi, Yusuf al Malki, Abdullah al Balushi, Hani al Nuaimi, Musab al Maamari, Yusuf al Shiyadi, Mohammed al Buraiki, Marwan al Abdulsalam, Hani al Qartoubi and Qasim Mubarak
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