MUSCAT: The Oman Olympic (under-23) football team are all set for the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 Qualifiers which will kick off on Wednesday in Amman city, Jordan.
Oman were drawn in Group A alongside Jordan (hosts), Syria and Brunei. Oman team, coached by national head coach Akram Habresh, will look for a strong return after they missed out two last editions of Asian Finals and they will take on Syria in the opener on Wednesday.
Then, Oman will have a tight match against hosts Jordan on Saturday (September 9) before concluding their group games against Brunei Darussalam on Tuesday (September 12).
Oman players will aim for straight qualification to the finals which will be held during April 15 and May 3, 2024. The qualifiers format will be in a single round-robin at a centralised venue with the 11 group winners and four best second-placed teams going through.
Oman’s players are in good shape after they completed the last abroad short camp in Iraq on a successful note. The team managed to end the friendly match against the Iraq team recently with a 2-1 win at Basra International Stadium.
Despite the hosts leading the match by Zaid Tahseen’s early goal in the sixth minute, coach Akram’s men bounced back strongly as they equalised in the last quarter of the first half by Khalid al Qatrefi.
Osama al Hadabi struck the winner in the second half of the game to deliver a crucial triumph to the team ahead of the start of the qualifiers. The warm-up game against the Iraqi team was essential for the coaching staff to stand up on the starting list of the team and address the weak areas of the team.
The national team players spent a few days in Basra city as the team had reported to few training sessions. The head coach and his assisting team addressed all the points that require further development in the technical and tactical sides.
Ahead of the Iraq camp, Oman team players completed their Turkiye camp on a positive point too. The camp in Turkiye took place from August 16 and ran for 11 days.
The external gathering had featured two friendly games out of four planned matches as two games were cancelled. The first warm-up match in Turkiye camp against Al Waab SC was not completed due to an injury to a Qatari club player in the 25th minute.
Later on, the Oman Olympic team suffered a 2-1 loss against Al Khor SC in the following fixture. Oman’s goal was netted by Al Faraj al Kumi while Ahmed al Mohanadi and Locas Rebero scored for Al Khor SC. The third match was against UAE’s Fujairah FC which the Oman boys won 2-0. Both the goals were scored by Osama al Hadabi. The last warm-up match against Algeria’s Pardou Athletic Club was cancelled as the venue was under-prepared for the match.
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