MUSCAT, Oct 1
Oman national football team defeated Qatar military team 2-1 in a friendly match at Qatar’s university ground on Thursday. The warm-up game was part of the underway overseas camp for the 'Red Warriors' in Doha ahead of Australia fixture on Thursday in the third round of AFC Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar Group B.
Essam al Subhi (11) and Harib al Saadi (74) netted the winning goals for the Sultanate team. Oman thumped Nepal 7-2 in the first friendly in Doha on Sunday.
The national team head coach, Branko Ivankovic, began the friendly match against Qatar military team with a starting line up featuring Ibrahim al Mukhaini, Fahmi Said, Khalid al Buraiki, Ahmed al Kaabi, Abdulaziz al Ghilani, Omar al Fazari, Mohammed al Ghafri, Mohsin Jawher, Arshad al Alawi, Abdulaziz al Maqbali and Essam al Subhi.
Both halfs featured many missing scoring attempts especially in the second half. Khalid al Hajri, Al Mudher al Alawi and Jameel al Yahmadi were near to raise the scoring margin but the final touch did not end on a successful note. It is expected that coaching staff will focus to assure address scoring woes.
Coach Ivankovic decided to enter the second half of the preparatory game with a new squad and tested many players. The list included Ahmed al Rawahi (GK), Ali alBusaidi, Juma al Habsi, Ahmed al Khamisi, Amjad al Harthy, Harib al Saadi, Abdullah Fawaz, Jameel al Yahmadi, Salah al Yahyaei, Al Mundher al Alawi and Khalid al Hajri. After completion of both friendlies, coach Ivankovic is scrutinizing in the kick off list ahead of Australia and Vietnam matches but it is expected to be very similar to the previous game against Saudi.
The national team will be continuing in the following days on the focused training ahead of the two crucial games against Australia on Thursday and Vietnam (Oct 12). The coaching staff will emphasise on technical and tactical sides of the players and skill sets. Oman team is looking to return back to victories after a 1-0 defeat from Saudi in the last round. The national team commenced the campaign on perfect note with a 1-0 historic win over host Japan in Osaka city last month.
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