MUSCAT: Oman under-19 football team is all set to take part at the 2022 Arab Cup U-20 Championship, which will begin in Abha city, Saudi Arabia from Wednesday. Oman’s juniors will commence their campaign in the tournament with a tight clash against Egypt on Thursday.
The match will start at 22:00 (Oman time) at Dhamak Club Stadium in Asir city. As many as 18 teams distributed into six groups will compete in the Arab Cup to clinch the prestigious title. The topper from each group will advance to the quarterfinal beside two teams from the best second placed teams will progress to the same round.
Oman team, coached by Spanish coach David Gordo, wrapped up their preparations ahead of the kick off. The team headed to Abha city on Sunday after completion of two strong international friendly games against Palestine in Muscat. Both warm up fixtures ended for Oman on a victorious note.
The second preparatory game concluded for Oman team by 2-1 where Khalid al Sulaimi and Salim al Abdali netted the winning goals. The first match ended at 1-0 and the only goal in the match was scored by Salim al Abri.
Competitive level
The head coach of Oman U-19 team, David Gordo, said that the team began the domestic camps two months ago. “The team had several warm up gathering during the last months with a total of four camps in the previous two months. The camps featured two international friendlies against Palestine. We focused during this period to raise the competitiveness level of players and shape their readiness for the Arab Cup assignment. Proper technical growth of the players and assisting them to become top footballers are the main focuses'', he added in his statement.
The Spanish coach commented on team’s performance during the international friendly games, he said: ”Friendly games are very different from the official games. We are expecting a lot of tough games in the championship especially there are teams which have better harmony among the players. Also, they are more stable team as they trained under a coach for much longer time and he is very aware on player’s technical performance and capabilities. All these advantages will give better lead for the rivals. However, our team will do their level best and convert trained tactics and techniques in the field for better show and learn from this experience'', he said.
Responding to a query on dropping some players in the squad from Saham club, the 52 years old answered that he did not see a player’s name or he is from which club.
“My focus is to select the two most appropriate players for each position to ensure the strength of this side. All the players were known that three players will be dropped from the squad after the second friendly game against Palestine. We gave equal opportunity to all the players both the warm up games and the decisions were made accordingly. The dropped players are among the best squad members and they may get back to the team anytime'', he clarified
The experienced Spanish coach concluded his statement that the team will take each match of the tournament separately. “Will focus game by game. Our target is to play top games and register the victory and then move to think about the following match'', he ended.
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