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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

West Asian Championship new assignment for Ivankovic

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Oman national football team head coach Branko Ivankovic and his technical staff will undertake a new assignment at the 10th edition of the West Asian Championship which will be held in UAE in January 2021.


Oman’s participation is confirmed in this event which will be added in the list of the Croatian coach’s assignments.


The tournament will be a perfect event for the national team to have some tough matches if the team wishes to seal a berth to the last round of the World Cup Qatar 2022 qualification. Three more matches are left for the Sultanate team in the second round of qualifications against Afghanistan, Qatar and Bangladesh teams.


As many as ten teams affirmed their participation at the West Asian Championship including Lebanon, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the host UAE team.


It is expected that the number of teams may increase in the upcoming days as the West Asia Football Federation will continue receiving any new joining applications until the end of the existing month.


The Croatian coach affirmed during the initial press conference, after appointing him as head coach of the national team, that advancing to the second round qualification for World Cup Qatar 2022 is the top priority for him.


He confirmed that Oman’s players' ability to be competent enough to take on any top team in Asia.


The 65-year-old has signed a two-year deal in January. The Croatian coach leads the team at two domestic camps for the local players in February and he visited Oman’s clubs to have a better idea on Oman’s football organisation.


Later, the preparatory plan of the “Red Warriors” impacted due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).


The newly appointed coach decided for a personal initiative against the pandemic through waiving of 40% of his salary for the country to face the   COVID-19 crises. “Red Warrior’s fans and the community appreciated the coach’s initiative through social media channels.


Asian Football Confederation (AFC) decided on April 14 to extend the postponement of all matches and competitions scheduled to take place in May and June until further notice. At the 2022 Qatar World Cup and 2023 China Asian Cup double qualifiers, Oman now possesses 12 points from five matches while Qatar are topping the group by 13 points from the same number of games.


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