DOHA: The Oman national football team ended the last training session ahead of a strong Group F match against Saudi Arabia at Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar capital of Doha, for the opening round of Asian Cup Qatar 2023.
Oman is 74th in Fifa ranking while Saudis are 56th.
At the Asian level, Oman is 10th while Saudis are fifth.
The Red Warriors will enter the championship with high morale after undergoing a successful internal preparation camp in Muscat and an external preparation camp in UAE, which concluded with two wins, 2-0 against China and 1-0 against the UAE.
The match will also be a face-off between Oman's Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic and Saudi Arabia's Italian coach Roberto Mancini.
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Ivankovic, 69, who led Oman in 39 matches, achieved 20 victories, drew in 7 matches, and lost in 12 matches. Under him, Oman scored 55 goals and received 40 goals.
Branko explained in the press conference, “We are very excited for tomorrow's match, and we are proud that we are here among the best Asian teams.”
He added, “The tournament will be one of the strongest tournaments in the history of Asian nations, in my view, because of the development of teams in all regions of Asia in the last 10 years, and we participate with high ambitions. Our group is difficult, not easy, and we expect to go beyond the group stage”.
“Regardless of the strong opponent that we will face on Tuesday, over the past period we have played strong matches with strong teams and we have done well. We have sufficient information about the Saudi national team, they have a new, international coach whose capabilities are known, and we are not afraid of the Saudi national team,” he said.
HAREB PROMISES TOP PERFORMANCE
Oman captain Hareb al Saadi said the team is ready to meet Saudi Arabia.
“We are very excited about the beginning and looking forward to making Omani people happy, and we promise fans a worthy performance."
“We had played two matches with Saudi in the World Cup qualifiers in Muscat and Jeddah. We are not afraid of any team, but we respect the opponents.”
Saudi coach Roberto Mancini said: “We are well prepared and the Oman team is very strong and the first match is always difficult, and we will do our best to win, and each match has its own circumstances”.
“Oman is not an easy team at all, but rather difficult and includes good players in the midfield and attack, we expect a tough match," he added.
Ivankovic likely will follow the usual 4-4-2 style of play, relying on Ibrahim al Mukhaini in goalkeeping. The four defenders comprised Khaled al Breiki, Ahmed al Khamisi, Arshad al Alawi, and Ahmed al Kaabi. The midfield will consist of Harib al Saadi, Abdullah Fawaz, Jamil al Yahmadi, and Salah al Yahyaei. The front line will most likely rely on Mohsen al Ghassani and Issam al Subhi.
Oman, who started their Asian Cup campaign in 2004 in China, made it to the last 16 rounds for the first time in UAE 2019. Oman played 13 matches in their four appearances, won three, drew three, and lost seven matches. They scored 10 goals and conceded 17 goals. They were eliminated from the group stage in three editions while qualifying for the second round in the UAE edition.
The Saudi team participated in 10 previous editions, they played 48 matches with 21 wins, 13 draws, and 14 losses. They scored 69 goals, conceded 48 goals, and were crowned champion three times in 1984, 1988 and 1996.
All match tickets have been sold out, as Khalifa International Stadium is expected to be filled with 50,000 Omani and Saudi fans.
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