MUSCAT: Oman Olympic (U-23) team will take part in the 2021 WAFF U-23 Championship which will be hosted by Saudi Arabia during October 4 to 12.
The draw grouped Oman in Group A besides Jordan, Yemen and Kuwait teams. Group B featured the UAE, Palestine, Lebanon and Iraq teams. Hosts Saudi Arabia will play alongwith Bahrain and Syria teams in Group C. The draw was held recently at the West Asian Football Federation’s headquarters in Amman, Jordan.
The Sultanate Olympic team will commence their campaign against Jordan on October 4 while they will take on Yemen in the following game on October 6. Two days later, Oman will face Kuwait in a Gulf clash.
The top team from each group will advance to semifinals besides the best runners-up team among the three groups. The semifinal fixtures will be played on October 10 while the final match is scheduled on October 12.
All the participating teams are gearing up for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers which will take place in October. 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 Olympic team, coached by Croatian coach Dario Basic, recently concluded an overseas camp in Saudi Arabia. The team suffered a 3-0 defeat against Saudi Arabia Olympic team in the first preparatory match while the second game ended in a 1-1 draw. Oman’s goal was scored by Waleed al Musallami.
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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