The long-serving national head coach of Oman beach soccer team, Talib Hilal, opted 14 players for the domestic preparatory camp which began on Thursday and will run until Monday. The underway warm-up gathering is part of the team’s preparation for the Arab Beach Soccer Championship 2023, ANOC Asian qualifiers and Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup UAE 2023 in November.
The announced squad featured return of Nouh al Battashi, Nouh al Zadjali and brought in new face Iyad al Alawi.
The underway camp will not feature any friendly games as many of Arabian teams regret to play in this period due to their commitment to play Arab Beach Soccer Championship according to the confirmation of Nabil al Balushi, Oman team manager.
Al Balushi told Oman Observer that the Oman team will fly to Jeddah to take part in the Arabian event on Tuesday. “In Jeddah, the team will take part in two significant events including the Arabian championship and ANOC Asian qualifiers which will be hosted in Jeddah city as well. The first and second placed teams will confirm their presence in ANOC Games which will be hosted in Indonesia’s Bali in June. The Asian qualifiers will be during May 23 to 27.”
The teams in the qualifiers are hosts Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Iran, Japan, Thailand, Palestine and Oman. The playing format will be knockouts according to the latest Fifa world ranking. Hosts Saudi will be ranked first while Iran second and Oman are ranked fifth.
“Oman may play against the UAE (fourth ranking). The winner of this match will reach the semifinals. The winners in the semifinals will confirm their participation in the ANOC Games in Indonesia,” Nabil concluded.
OMAN TO MEET PALESTINE
The Arab Beach Soccer Championship 2023 will be hosted by Jeddah city from May 11 to 20. Oman will play against Palestine, Sudan and Egypt in Group B while hosts Saudi Arabia are grouped with Mauritania, Morocco and Lebanon in Group A and UAE are leading Group C besides Libya, Kuwait and Comoro Islands.
The Oman team will commence their campaign in the tournament with a match against Palestine on May 12 and the match will start at 18:30 (Oman time). Then, the national beach soccer team will take on Egypt on May 14 and on the following day they will face Sudan.
The Arab beach soccer 2023 and ANOC Asian qualifiers will act as a significant step for Oman’s team preparation for the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup UAE 2023 which will be hosted by Dubai during November 16 to 26. Oman are ranked 14th internationally in the latest Fifa world ranking and will be looking to claim maximum technical output from these top class events.
Oman Squad: Khaid al Araimi, Mishaal al Araimi, Munthir al Araimi, Abdullah al Souti Amjad al Hamadani, Nouh al Battashi, Younis al Owaisi, Sami al Balushi, Yahya al Muraikhi, Abdulrahman al Fazari, Nouh al Zadjali, Ahmed al Owaisi, Iyad al Alawi and Al Yaqdhan al Hindasi.
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