Muscat: Oman head coach Branko Ivankovic hailed his team’s 3-0 win over Chinese Taipei in the opener of the Preliminary Joint Qualification – Round 2 for the Fifa World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 as the result of a top show from the players during the opening encounter on Thursday night at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. The victory meant, Oman took the lead in Group D while Malaysia are positioned second with the same points after their win against Kyrgyzstan 4-3.
"Congratulations to all the players for the top performance and the winning result. The triumph was very essential at the start of the journey. I affirmed in the pre-match press conference that the first match is always difficult. Thanks to the players as they managed to control the whole match and were the better side," Ivankovic told reporters after the match.
During the post-match press conference, Ivankovic added that the team did not make the mistake of underestimating Chinese Taipei. "Everyone knew that Oman were the better side, and we had to prove that on the pitch. The main thing was we did not underestimate the opponent. The team managed to determine in the match but we delayed a lot for scoring the third goal. Defender Amjad al Harthi showed top performance in the training camp and he entered as replacement of Mahmood al Mushefri after his injury,” Ivankovic said.
The scorer of the first goal, Omar al Malki was named as the best player of the match following his outstanding technical display in the clash.
“As a team, we prepared very well for the match. The players were very focused and our target was to clinch the three winning points in the beginning of the qualifiers. The forthcoming encounter against Kyrgyzstan will be in difference circumstances but we will deliver our best towards registering a positive result,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, Oman football team delegation arrived on Friday to Bishkek city as Red Warriors will meet Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday in an away match of the qualifiers. The team will commence their training sessions under supervision of head coach Branko and his assistant coaching team.
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