Doha, Nov 28 - Oman head coach Erwin Koeman appreciated the good performance of the players in the Group B opener of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on Wednesday. Oman were held to a goalless draw by Bahrain in the opener. “The players delivered top performance in the match. We lost many scoring chances as well as Bahrain. I am happy with the players technical level,” the Dutchman said. “We reached to the box and missed the perfect way of finishing the scoring chances,” he said.
Koeman said: “Bahrain has tall players and that supported them to be excellent in cross balls. However, Oman team managed to control and dominate the match most of the time,” he said. The Dutchman supported Mohammed al Ghafri saying is one of the young players for Oman. “ He has good potential to grow. We should support the youngsters as they are the future of Oman’s football.” “I substituted Al Mundher al Alawi with Yassin al Shiyadi as the former was very exhausted after putting in a tiring effort in the game. The change was necessary to avoid any injuries and to maintain the team’s performance,” Koeman added.
Responding to a query on the less duration to play two games within five days, the coach said: “It is a difficult situation but we have to adapt on it without excuses. There will be a special food and physical training programe for players to raise their fitness and readiness level,” Koeman said.
Bahrain coach Helio Souza said the match was very tough as he mentioned previously in the pre-match press conference.
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