Doha: The Oman national football team will meet Thailand on Sunday for the fourth time in the history at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, as Oman played three matches in this stadium in Gulf 24 competitions. The stadium was opened in 2013 and can accommodate 10,000 spectators. Against Thailand, Oman will be looking forward to break the knot of the second match, where the team was not able in the last four editions to post any positive result in the Asian Cup.
The beginning was in China 2004, where Oman needed a win instead of a 2-2 draw to qualify for next round. In the 2007 edition, despite a good start against Australia with a 1-1 draw, Oman suffered a 2-0 loss to Thailand, bringing them very close to the exit. While in 2015 edition, Oman lost to Australia 4-0 after starting with a loss to South Korea, officially bidding farewell. And in last edition, Red Warriors also lost to Japan by a goal after starting the tournament with a loss to Uzbekistan.
On the other hand, Thailand continued the third session after they defeated Kyrgyzstan 2-0 in their opening match. Thailand attended the training session with complete list of 26 players at Al Ersal Stadium 2 in Doha. Overnight, Thailand team attended a dinner reception by the Thailand's Ambassador to Qatar, Sera Suangsilpa.
The match against Oman will be a milestone for Thai defender Terathon Poonmathan, as he will reach his 100th international match to become the sixth player in Thailand to reach the centenary match. The post-match press conference for Oman and Thailand match will be at media centre in Doha on Saturday, the beginning will be with Croatian Branko Ivankovic, Oman team coach with one of Oman players. Then the Japanese coach Masatada Ichi of Thailand will speak alongside one of the players.
Meanwhile, the Omani refereeing crew will officiate the match between Bahrain and Malaysia on Saturday in the second round of Group E, which will be held at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium at Al Sadd Club. The match will be officiated by international referee Ahmed Abu Bakr al Kaf, Abu Bakr al Amri as first assistant and Rashid al Ghaithi as second assistant. The Omani crew officiated the Syria and Uzbekistan match in the first round, which ended in a goalless draw.
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