Muscat: Oman national team and delegation of Oman Football Association left for Basra from Dubai to take part in the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, which will be held in Iraq city from January 6 to 9.
Mohsen bin Hamad al Masrouri, Vice President of the OFA Federation, is leading the 51-member delegation including Qutayba al Ghailani, member of the Board of Directors, and Hilal al Sanani Secretary-General, and Khamis al Balushi.
The Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic selected 23 for the squad. They are Ahmed al Rawahi, Mohammed al Muslami, Juma al Habsi, Salah al Yahya’i (Seeb), Harib al Saadi, Fayez al Rashidi, Ahmed al Khamisi, Amjad al Harthy, Essam al Subhi, Khaled al Buraiki, Mahmoudal Mashifri (Suwaiq), Ibrahim al Mukhaini, Ahmed al Kaabi, Ali al Hinai, Al Mundhir al Alawi, Ahmed al Matroushi (Nahda) , Moataz Abd Rabbo (Dhofar), Musab al Maamari, Ahmed al Adawi (Rustaq), Fahmy Beit Dur (Nasr), Zaher al Aghbari (Bahraini Khalidiyah), Omar al Maliki (Bahrain Riffa), and Arshad al Alawi (Kuwaiti).
Six players were excluded namely Yazid bin Salem al Ma’ashani, Awad bin Mohammed al Shehri, Abdullah bin Salem al Mishrafi (Dhofar), Hatem bin Sultan al Rushdi (Jordan Faisaly), and Jamil Salim al Ahmadi.
Iraq will host the tournament for the second time in its history after the first in 1979, when Baghdad, hosted the fifth edition, in which the Iraqi team won its first of three titles.
The Arabian Gulf Cup is held once every two years. The 25th Gulf draw placed Oman national team, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Yemen in the first group. Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain are in the second group
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