Oman take on Iraq at Jordan tourney

Oman national football team will take on Iraq on Friday in the opening friendly match as apart of the Jordan International friendly tournament which will begin in Amman city on Friday. The four days event will feature attendance of Iraq, Syria, Jordan (the hosts) and Sultanate of Oman teams.

Oman’s match against Iraq will start at 7 pm at King Abdullah II stadium. In the opening match, hosts Jordan will meet Syria. The winners of those matches will then meet in final on Monday while the losers to play-off for third and fourth place match on the same day.

The Jordan friendly event will serve as crucial preparation for Red Warriors as they are gearing up for Arabian Gulf Cup, 2023 West Asian Championships and 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

Oman football’s delegation arrived to Amman city on Sunday and reported to the training sessions. Oman’s Hatim al Rushdi who is playing for Jordan’s Al Faisaly’s club joined the squad. The team, coached by Branko Ivankovic, had various training sessions at the King Abdullah II stadium which will host all the matches.

During the training sessions, the Croatian coach and his technical coaching staff focused on different aspects including practices on creating attempts from different sides, utilising the scoring attempts and other dedicated technical techniques. The 68-year-old finalised the starting line-up on Thursday’s main training.

Head coach Branko Ivankovic said the tournament featured strong teams. “There are teams which are very close in technical level. This meant we will see tough matches. This event will assist the team technically for the forthcoming championships including Arabian Gulf Cup, 2023 West Asian Championships and 2023 AFC Asian Cup. We have five injured players and they will not be part of the team in this friendly tournament,” he told a press conference on Thursday.

Ivankovic added that Iraq are classified as strong team and normally a tough opponent in any fixture.

In November, Oman team will host Germany team as the latter will hold a training camp in Muscat during November 14 to 18 ahead of Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022. The friendly game against German national team is scheduled on November 16 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher. The match will kick off at 6 pm.

SQUAD: Ahmed al Rawahi, Mohammed al Musalami, Juma al Habsi, Mohammed al Amri, Moshin al Ghassani, Salah al Yahyaei (Seeb), Harib al Saadi, Fayez al Rushedi, Ahmed al Khamisi, Amjad al Harthi, Essam al Subhi, Khalid al Buraiki (Suwaiq), Ibrahim al Mukhaini, Ahmed al Kaabi, (Al Nahda) Motaz Saleh, Yazeed al Masahni, (Dhofar) Mosab al Mamari, Ahmed al Adawi (Al Rustaq) Fahmi Said, (Al Nasr) Jameel al Yahmadi (Qatar’s Al Murkhyia SC), Zaher al Aghbari (Bahrain’s Al Khalidyia SC), Omar al Malki (Bahrain’s Rifaa), Hatim al Rushdi (Jordan’s Al Faisaly SC) and Arshad al Alawi (Kuwait SC).