Oman chase a win against Somalia to enter Arab Cup final
Published: 03:06 PM,Jun 19,2021 | EDITED : 12:06 AM,Jun 20,2021
Oman national football team will aim for victory against Somalia on Sunday in the qualifying match to cruise into the finals of the inaugural edition of Fifa Arab Cup 2021
Oman national football team will aim for victory against Somalia on Sunday in the qualifying match to cruise into the finals of the inaugural edition of Fifa Arab Cup 2021. The match will kick off at 9:00 pm at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha.
The Red Warriors entered this match a few days after confirmation of their attendance in the deciding round of the 2022 Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers and a spot in the AFC 2023 Asian Cup finals. Oman ended their campaign in the Group E at the joint qualification as runner-up with 18 points behind Qatar who led the group.
Coach Branko Ivankovic’s men are in the best shape to face the Somalia team after they played three top matches in the second round of joint qualifiers against Qatar, Afghanistan, and India. Today’s evening encounter will be played at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium which is the venue that hosted all of the Red Warriors’ matches in group E of 2022 Fifa World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup joint qualification matches. This will give a better advantage to Red Warriors’ members as they are familiarised with the green field.
Registering triumph against African opponent in today’s fixture will secure a slot for the Sultanate team in the finals of Fifa Arab Cup 2021 in group A along with hosts Qatar, Iraq and the winner of Bahrain vs Kuwait match which will be played on Sunday as well.
The finals of the Fifa Arab Cup 2021 will take place from November 30 until December 18 and this event act as a rehearsal for the hosts Qatar ahead of the Fifa World Cup 2022. As many as 16 teams will take part in the finals. The confirmed teams in the tournament till now due to their Fifa world ranking including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Iraq, UAE, and hosts Qatar.
In the other qualifying games, Bahrain will take on Kuwait in a top Gulf clash while Jordan will meet South Sudan. Lebanon will clash with Djibouti while Palestine will take on Comoros and Libya will face Sudan. The winners of the play-off will qualify for the finals of the showpiece event.
Branko Confident
The Croatian coach, Branko Ivankovic, voiced confidently that the team is in the best shape to move into the finals. “ We are respecting the Somalia team and there are no weak teams. I am fully optimistic that we can achieve the required from this fixture after a solid show in the previous round of qualifier,” he added.
The 67-year-old pointed out that all the players are the right shape to perform well in the encounter. “I am confident in my squad and they can accomplish the required result in this match. We are having a weak technical brief about the opponent. However, we have set our players for this match,” he ended.
Oman’s striker Abdulaziz al Maqbali said that this is a new tournament and as players, we will do our best to register a triumphant result. “We are working as one team in the field and we will deliver our best to make our fans happy,” he concluded.
The Red Warriors entered this match a few days after confirmation of their attendance in the deciding round of the 2022 Fifa World Cup Asian Qualifiers and a spot in the AFC 2023 Asian Cup finals. Oman ended their campaign in the Group E at the joint qualification as runner-up with 18 points behind Qatar who led the group.
Coach Branko Ivankovic’s men are in the best shape to face the Somalia team after they played three top matches in the second round of joint qualifiers against Qatar, Afghanistan, and India. Today’s evening encounter will be played at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium which is the venue that hosted all of the Red Warriors’ matches in group E of 2022 Fifa World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup joint qualification matches. This will give a better advantage to Red Warriors’ members as they are familiarised with the green field.
Registering triumph against African opponent in today’s fixture will secure a slot for the Sultanate team in the finals of Fifa Arab Cup 2021 in group A along with hosts Qatar, Iraq and the winner of Bahrain vs Kuwait match which will be played on Sunday as well.
The finals of the Fifa Arab Cup 2021 will take place from November 30 until December 18 and this event act as a rehearsal for the hosts Qatar ahead of the Fifa World Cup 2022. As many as 16 teams will take part in the finals. The confirmed teams in the tournament till now due to their Fifa world ranking including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, Iraq, UAE, and hosts Qatar.
In the other qualifying games, Bahrain will take on Kuwait in a top Gulf clash while Jordan will meet South Sudan. Lebanon will clash with Djibouti while Palestine will take on Comoros and Libya will face Sudan. The winners of the play-off will qualify for the finals of the showpiece event.
Branko Confident
The Croatian coach, Branko Ivankovic, voiced confidently that the team is in the best shape to move into the finals. “ We are respecting the Somalia team and there are no weak teams. I am fully optimistic that we can achieve the required from this fixture after a solid show in the previous round of qualifier,” he added.
The 67-year-old pointed out that all the players are the right shape to perform well in the encounter. “I am confident in my squad and they can accomplish the required result in this match. We are having a weak technical brief about the opponent. However, we have set our players for this match,” he ended.
Oman’s striker Abdulaziz al Maqbali said that this is a new tournament and as players, we will do our best to register a triumphant result. “We are working as one team in the field and we will deliver our best to make our fans happy,” he concluded.