MUSCAT, Feb 24
Oman's long-serving national beach soccer team coach, Talib Hilal, expressed his full satisfaction with the team’s performance in the 2024 Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup (BSWC).
“We aimed to progress into the knockout stages for the first time after five presences in the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup (BSWC) event but were not lucky enough. Despite that I am satisfied with the player's technical levels during all three games in the group stage,” the coach told Oman Observer.
The national Beach Soccer team arrived in Muscat on Wednesday after they completed their campaign in the global Beach Soccer event in Dubai. Oman player's hopes were dashed for the first time to the knockout stage after they suffered a shocking 3-2 defeat by Portugal in the dying minutes of the third and concluding round, during group D matches of the event on Tuesday. Oman began their campaign with a strong show despite the defeat against the five-time champion Brazil 5-3. Then, Oman team heroes bounced back strongly in the following match to register a 5-2 win over Mexico.
“The preparation for the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup began one month before the events started. The domestic Beach Soccer league was going in December and we began the actual warm-up in January. We did not press hard on the players during the camps to avoid any injury. The team managed to play four crucial preparatory games in Muscat against Italy (two games), Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The national team won all these games. We played against Belarus in Dubai ahead of the World Cup and won them. Italy and Belarus are now competing in the semifinals of the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup,” he added
“In the opening match against Brazil, the team delivered a top show despite a 5-3 loss. Some of the team’s players were playing for the first time and there was some lack of confidence and less experience, which led to the defeat. In the following game, the players captured the winning points to enter the last match with better encouragement. In the concluding game against Portugal, the players produced an excellent show but the luck was against them as they received a goal in the dying minutes of the game. Despite our exit, I am happy with the technical performance delivered by the players in all the three previous games,” the experienced coach added.
“We missed the service of Sami al Balushi and Mashal al Oraimi, both of whom are experienced and have played before the World Beach Soccer Cup events. On the other side, the mixture of the squad impressed during all the group’s games but with no luck,” he added
“The team may participate in the Arabian Beach Soccer Championship and the West Asian Beach Soccer Championship. The details for both events will be unveiled soon. As head coach, I hope to get a better preparatory plan with more friendly games against tight teams. This will help us to excel better,” he concluded.
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