Oman thump Belarus to conclude domestic camp

MUSCAT, MARCH 11

Oman beach soccer team concluded their final preparatory domestic camp on a successful note as they thumped Belarus 8-5 on Monday night at the sandy court of the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.

With this motivational triumph, Oman players are in perfect shape to kick off their action at the main continental assignment of AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup Thailand 2025 which will take place in Pattaya,Thailand from March 20 to 30.

Oman players managed to show a top performance in the second friendly encounter against Belarus as they prevailed 8-5. Sami al Balushi was the star of the game as he netted a hat-trick while Mashal al Oraimi, Musallam al Oraimi, Abdullah al Souti and Ahmed al Owaisi scored the remaining goals.

In the first warm-up game, Belarus earned a 5-1 win over Oman on Saturday night. Mashal al Oraimi scored the only goal for Oman.

Oman’s experienced beach soccer coach Talib Hilal finalised the starting line-up of the team in the Asian event. Under technical guidance of Talib, the national team won a gold medal in the Asian Beach Games in 2008 and then became champions at the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup in 2015. Furthermore, Oman were also silver medallists at the Asian Beach Soccer Cup in 2011 besides winning bronze medals in 2009 and 2019. Hence, Oman’s chances are very high to impress and rekindle the previous memories despite the expected tough challenge.

Oman will vie against Bahrain, Malaysia, and Vietnam in Group D at 2025 AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup Thailand. The continental showpiece will also offer three tickets to the Fifa Beach Soccer World Cup Seychelles 2025 in coming May.

Oman will begin their campaign in the Asian event with a match against Vietnam on March 21 and then they will meet Malaysia on March 23. Two days later, they will conclude the group stage with a match against Bahrain.

Earlier last week, Oman had played two friendly matches against Russia. In both games, Russia beat Oman with a close 6-5 win in the first friendly and a 6-3 win in the second at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex.

Oman Squad: Khalid al Oraimi, Munther al Oraimi, Abdullah al Souti, Nooh al Zadjali, Mashal al Oraimi, Ahmed al Owaisi, Salim al Oraimi, Younis al Owaisi, Sami al Balushi, Yahya al Muraikhi, Abdulrahman al Fazari, Musallam al Oraimi, Majid al Affari, Yousef al Zadjali, Amjad al Hamdani and Sameer al Afari.