Ivankovic hails Oman show against China

Muscat, March 30

Oman head coach Branko Ivankovic congratulated the national team players after their top show during the impressive 2-0 victory over China in the concluding game of group B of the AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to Qatar.

Ahead of the match, the ‘Red Warriors’ had confirmed finishing in the fourth place in the group but the last win against the Chinese raised the credit to 14 points and behind Australia by one point only.

Arshad al Alawi and Abdullah Fawaz’s goals confirmed Oman’s triumph against the West Asian nation at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Tuesday night.

“I am very proud of my players’ performance during all the matches in the qualifiers. The last game in the group was tactically good match. The team managed to earn 14 points in the group and we were not lucky in some fixtures,” the Croatian coach added.

Despite both teams lost the chance to compete in the top three places in the group, they showed top fixture and each side were very committed to win the match.

The 68 years old affirmed that all the team players are in full readiness, and they approve their top capabilities whenever they get any chance to play. “ I have young faces in the squad and they have a bright future,” he said.

With the completion of the qualifiers, Ivankovic said there will a preparatory camp in Malta and will play many warm-up games there. At the end of the post press conference, coach Ivankovic was very disappointed on fans attendance in China’s game. “I was looking for our fans to support the game as our players are much needed for this support but I am very upset with the less number of audience. Chinese fans attended in bigger number than us. Oman team is very serious in all the matches and even in all the training sessions,” he concluded.

The second goal owner, Abdullah Fawaz said the team tried their best to qualify from this group but they could not. “This is an important win for the team. We will have some vital assignment in the forthcoming months and will start gearing up for it,” he said.

China head coach Li Xiaopeng said that the hosts showed very well and organised game. “ They played modern football. We tried to press and attack but we couldn’t. The opponent deserved to win,” he said.