MUSCAT: Oman’s national under-20 football team suffered a 2-1 defeat against Bahla Club’s first team in a friendly match at the Royal Oman Police Stadium as part of their ongoing domestic training camp ahead of the forthcoming Asian qualifiers.
The match against Bahla provided another valuable test for the young national team against a Jindal League side, as the coaching staff continued to give the players more competitive minutes and assess their technical and physical readiness before moving into the final phase of preparations.
The domestic camp is being overseen by Oman U20 head coach Hamad al Azzani and his technical staff. It aims to improve the players’ technical and physical fitness, evaluate their performances and implement tactical plans ahead of the continental assignment, which remains the main objective for the technical and administrative teams during the current phase.
Through the daily training sessions and friendly matches, the coaching staff are also seeking to strengthen coordination among the team's different departments, test several tactical approaches and playing options and address observations identified during matches before selecting the final squad for the qualifiers.
The technical staff called up 26 players from various domestic clubs for the latest training camp, which runs until August 1.
The squad comprises Ibrahim al Tamimi, Yazan al Khaldi, Al Waleed al Rashdi, Ali al Alawi, Abdullah al Saadi, Ibrahim al Shamsi, Al Hassan al Qasmi, Fahad Bait Rabia, Ahmed al Amrani, Abdulrahman al Busaidy, Issam al Mukhaini, Al Mutasim al Maqbali and Mudathir al Batrani.
The remaining players are Ahmed al Fahdi, Abdulmunim al Habsi, Khalil Arafah, Ziyad al Faraji, Abdullah al Oraimi, Akram Ramadan, Mohammed al Sameen, Muzn al Hinai, Abdulaziz al Manwari, Fahad al Mashaikhi, Sulaiman al Kharousi, Ahmed al Rawahi and Hassan al Hinai.
The Bahla friendly followed two international friendly matches against Bahrain during the latter’s training camp in Muscat. Both encounters ended in 1-1 draws, giving the coaching staff an opportunity to assess several players against opponents also preparing for upcoming Asian competitions.
Oman will continue their daily training sessions as part of the domestic camp, which began on July 17. The programme includes technical and physical sessions alongside friendly matches designed to help the coaching staff address areas requiring improvement and raise the team’s overall readiness before the final stage of preparations.
Oman are preparing to compete in the AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2027 Qualifiers after being drawn in Group E alongside hosts Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong, China. The group matches will be staged in Doha.
Oman will open their qualifying campaign against Qatar on August 31 before facing Saudi Arabia on September 3. They will conclude their group fixtures against Hong Kong, China on September 6.
The young national team will look to make full use of the remaining preparation period to correct mistakes, build on the positive aspects of their recent performances and reach the required level of readiness before the start of the competitive fixtures.
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