Muscat: The Oman U-20 football team will take on Iran in another friendly match on Tuesday at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. The match will kick off at 16:40.
The match is part of the ongoing domestic warm-up gathering for the team for the top assignment in AFC U20 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2023. Oman boys suffered a 1-0 loss against Iran in the opening friendly match on Sunday at the same venue.
Despite the defeat, Oman U-20 head coach David Gordo tested different players in the match and stood by their current technical performance. Moreover, the match gave an indication for the team’s level to compete with the strong Asian teams including Iran and to enter the players in the top international match standard.
After the second preparatory Iran match, the U-20 team will conclude the 10-day internal camp in Muscat. Coach Gordo has opted 24 players to shape them for the forthcoming presence in the AFC U20 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2023. The Asian Cup is scheduled to take place in Tashkent from March 1 to 18, 2023.
Ahead of the local camp, the Oman team boys had concluded their abroad camp in Dubai on November 20 on a bright note. Coach David Grodo’s boys had played two friendly games against the UAE team. The opening warm-up game ended in favour of Oman by 2-1 as Al Mutaism Ghanim and Abdullah al Rajhi netted the winning goals. In the following match, Oman boys repeated their victory against the hosts 1-0 after Abdul Majeed al Balushi scored the all-important goal in the 22nd minute. Dubai camp was within the team’s technical plan for gearing up for the Asian event.
Oman will take part in the Asian event in Group C besides Korea Republic, Tajikistan and Jordan. The hosts Uzbekistan will compete for the title as they will face Indonesia, Iraq and Syria in Group A while Qatar will try to secure a berth in quarterfinals as they will meet Australia, Vietnam and Islamic Republic of Iran in Group B. Defending champions Saudi Arabia, Japan, China PR and Kyrgyz Republic will compete in Group D.
The top four teams in the Asian finals will confirm their presence in the Fifa U20 World Cup 2023, which will return to Asia in Indonesia from May 20 to June 11.
Oman Squad: Turki Abdullah, Al Muhatadi al Abri, Mohammed al Oufi, Abdullah al Rajhi, Al Muntasir al Mawali, Salim al Shamakhi, Momin al Souli, Mulhim al Hadharami, Osama al Rawahi,Salim al Abdali,Abdullah al Anbouri, Said al Ghanbousi, Al Harith al Mukhaini, Mosab al Shamsi, Abdul Aleem al Rawahi, Ahed al Mashakhei, Mazin Saleh, Al Muhannad al Habsi, Abdulmajeed al Balushi, Ali al Balushi, Salah al Jadeedi, Ayman al Nabhani and Mohammed Abdulhakim.
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