MUSCAT: Oman national under-19 football team head coach Ahmed al Alawi has called up 24 players to take part in the domestic preparatory camp which will begin on Monday in Muscat. The nine-day camp will feature mixture of technical training sessions, local preparatory matches and some fitness exercises.
The gathering is part of the team’s long preparatory plan for the forthcoming assignments including the third edition of the West Asian Championship which will be held in Saudi Arabia in the middle of the current year. Then, the team will vie for one of the direct spots at AFC U20 Asian Cup 2025 Qualifiers in September 2024, while the finals of 2025 AFC U20 Asian Cup is scheduled to take place in February 2025.
Recently, the U-19 football league concluded as Al Suwaiq were crowned the champions following their crucial 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Saham as the match ended in a 1-1 draw at the regulation time. The match produced many potential faces who can represent the national team from both the teams.
The announced squad featured four players from the winning team including goalkeeper Mamoon al Soli, Yousef al Shabibi, Muhannad al Saadi and Ouadi al Manwari while there were no players selected from Saham despite their top performance in the league.
Moreover, there were no players too from Izki and Al Khabourah clubs as they ended in the third and fourth places respectively. The coaching staff of the national under-19 football team observed the league in different stages and they announced the squad after the completion of the league.
The last camp for the team was in January as the team had played some local friendly matches.
The Oman junior team had played against Ahli Sidab with the Oman U19 winning by 3-0. Oman’s goals were scored by Ayoob al Busaidy, Said al Ghanboosi and Al Hussain al Qasmi. The second match was against Muscat club and the game concluded with Oman’s victory at 2-0. Rabee al Sunaidy and al Hussain al Qasmi netted the winning goals for the Oman team.
The Oman team had managed to advance into the Asian Cup for three times and will be looking to confirm their fourth presence in the upcoming edition. Oman’s last appearance was in the 2023 AFC U20 Asian Cup Uzbekistan finals last March. Oman’s campaign in the Asian Cup had ended with only one point from a goalless draw against Jordan. Oman had suffered two defeats in the first two games of the group against South Korea and Tajikistan. It was the third participation for them in Asian AFC U20 finals in Uzbekistan after 2014 (Myanmar) and 2000 (Iran) editions.
Oman Squad: Majid al Farsi, Masoud al Bahri, Ghassan al Masrouri, Basha al Muharabi, Rabee al Sunaidy, Abdullah al Jabri, Said al Ghanbousi, Jawad al Azi, Adnan al Mashaefri, Ali al Alawi, Mohammed al Sameen, Ahmed al Shanfari, Al Hussain al Qasmi, Oadi al MAnwari, Muhannad al Saadi, Mamoun al Soli, Yousef al Shabibi, Rashad al Dheen, Yassar al Balushi, Fahad al Mukhaini, Fahad Awadh, Shihab al Mukhaini, Abdullah al Mamari, Ziyad al Jaalani.
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