Muscat: The Oman national football team concluded their final preparatory match against Sudan with a goalless draw on Thursday night at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex ahead of AFC Asian Qualifiers encounters against South Korea and Kuwait on March 20 and 25 respectively for Group B of the World Cup Qualifiers — Road to 26. The warm-up game was part of Red Warriors underway camp which will conclude in the coming days in Muscat ahead of team’s travel to Seoul city middle of next week.
During the friendly match, coach Rasheed Jaber allowed the chance for new players to enter the encounter including goalkeeper Adbulmalik al Badri to replace Ibrahim al Mukhaini, Yousef al Malki, Mohammed al Subiai, Majid al Saadi, Hatim al Roushdi and Abdullah Fawaz during the second half.
The first half of the match registered few scoring chances by the national team including Ahmed al Kaabi’s attempt in the 23rd minute as he was alone against Sudan goalie Ahmed al Fatah but his shot went away from the target. New young striker Ahed al Mashakehi missed another chance to score in the 32nd minute after a perfect cross by Ahmed al Kaabi. On the other hand, the opponent missed few attempts as well including striker Wali Deen Safoor‘s experiment in the final quarter of the opening half which was away from the net.
In the second half, the scenario of missing the scoring chances continued as both teams' strikers failed to break the deadlock and convert the ball into the target despite several substitutions made by both coaches including Oman head coach Rasheed Jaber who did many replacements.
Rasheed Jaber, started with Ibrahim al Mukhaini as the goalkeeper. Defender Khalid al Buraiki from Al Shabab club led the defending line besides Ahmed al Kaabi, Thani al Rushaidi and Ghanim al Habshi. The fourth centralised players including Harib al Saadi, Mulhim al Sunaidy, Nasser al Rawahi and Ahed al Mushaikhi monitored the middle line. Strikers Hussain al Shahri and Mohammed al Ghafri were in the forwarding line.
Sudan started the match with a squad including: Ahmed al Fatah as goalkeeper, Al Tayyab Abdul Razzaq, Mohamed Ahmed, Ahmed AbdulMonem, Ramadhan Ajab, Ameer Kamal, Wali Deen Saffor, Omar Taha, John Otinal, Yasser Muzamel and Moosa Hussain.
After the match, Rasheed Jaber announced the final squad which will represent the team in upcoming matches against South Korea and Kuwait in the AFC Asian qualifiers to 2026 Fifa World Cup.
Oman Squad: Ibrahim al Mukhaini, AbdulMalki al Badri, Moutasim al Wahaibi, Khalid al Buraiki, Ahmed al Khamisi, Thani al Rushedi, Majid al Saadi, Ghanim al Habshi, Ali al Busaidy, Ahmed al Kaabi, Mulhim al Sunaidy, Amjad al Harthy, Harib al Saadi, Abdullah Fawaz, Arshad al Alawi, Al Faraj al Kiyumi, Al Mundher al Alawi, Abdulrahman al Musheifri, Salah al Yahyaei, Hatim al Roushdi, Jameel al Yahmadi, Hussain al Shahri, Issam al Subhi, Mohsin al Ghassani, Zaher al Aghbari and Nasser al Rawahi.
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