Verbeek eyes Oman’s most successful Asian Cup participation

Oman national football team coach Pim Verbeek stated that the Red Warriors’ first target in the AFC Asian Cup 2019 will be reaching the second round for the first time in Oman’s history. “The first target is to go through to the second round of the tournament for the first time ever. However, I promise that this job will be difficult,” Verbeek told Oman Daily Observer. “For now, our main focus is on the Uzbekistan game and this is what we always do, looking only at each game,’’ Verbeek added. Oman will start their Group F campaign against Uzbekistan on January 9 in Sharjah at 05:30 pm. The national team will then travel to Abu Dhabi where they will clash with Japan on January 13, before they take on Turkmenistan on January 17. “I know that the Omanis’ dream was raised especially after winning the 23rd edition of the Gulf Cup in January 2018, but I would call upon everyone to be realistic in their dreams,” the veteran Dutchman said. “I say let us see how our games will turn out especially with two strong teams like Japan and Uzbekistan and our game with Turkmenistan which we cannot even predict, then let us think about the next phase,’’ he added. Three days after losing to Australia 5-0, Verbeek’s men regained the trust of the Omani fans by beating Thailand 2-0 in the last test before the start of the Asian Cup 2019. “Players did very well against Thailand as they always do,” the 62-year-old Verbeek said. “We can consider the defeat against Australia as a wake-up call not that we needed one, because the players are doing a good job in training all the time. “But because we were on an unbeaten run of 15 games, it’s always good to see the players’ reaction after a tough loss. “Against Australia, the whole team was far below their level not only Mohammed Al Shaiba and Saad Suhail. “Maybe they were surprised by the physical abilities of the Australian team, but any way it was a good test for us. “We played three friendly games, and I gave most of the players chance to participate, and our camp wasn’t only about playing games, it was also meant to build the physical capabilities to assure that everyone is 100 per cent ready.” The former South Korea and Australia manager insisted that he has no issue in the centre-back even with the absence of Fahmi Durbeen and Nader Awadh. “I’m not worried about the centre-back line and Al Shaiba is very fit physically, as he has no injury according to the medical and fitness tests,” Verbeek said. “I think Mohammed Al Shaiba didn’t show his best in this game, but he is doing very well in the training and overall it (Australia game) wasn’t an easy game.” The Dutchman also reacted to the criticism against his tactical style and players’ selection. “The audience look only to the games, but I look to each and every training, therefore, I come up with the changes in both attacking system and players’ selection,” Verbeek said. “We had a camp with around 30 players and all of them did very well, so it was a very difficult decision to make, but I had to take only 20 field players with three goalkeepers and disappoint five players. So I looked for the experience factor to help me in this, but all of those players deserve to be in the final selection. “It will be very strange to change the system after two successful years because of one defeat against one of the best teams in Asia, so we would continue our same style of play in the Asian Cup 2019.” The Dutchman Pim Verbeek expressed his satisfaction about the green environment he gets from the Oman Football Association(OFA). “I’m more than happy with the support provided to me by the OFA and Omani clubs in the last two years, there is nothing me or my staff can complain about.”