Oman post second win over Syria

Muscat: Oman national football team registered their second international friendly win against Syria 1-0 in Dubai on Friday night.

Khalid al Buraiki scored the only goal of the match in the 86th minute at the Dubai Police Officers Club Stadium. The match was part of Oman’s preparatory external camp in the UAE.

Oman team entered with a starting line-up that included Ibrahim al Mukhaini as the goalkeeper, Juma al Habsi, Ahmed al Khamisi, Mahmoud al Mushaifari and Ahmed al Kaabi in the defence line.

Harib al Saadi, Arshad al Alawi, Salah al Yahyaei and Zaher al Aghbari featured in the midfield. Essam al Subhi was the lone forward.

Oman tried to find a goal from set-pieces as they found several such situations from a rigid Syrian defence.

Ahmed Al Saleh, captain of the Syrian team, was shown red card in the 84th minute after a violent tackle, forcing Syria to complete the last minutes with ten players.

Oman head coach Branko Ivankovic will announce the list of 23 players from the available 29 players that he will choose to compete in the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup. Six players will be excluded from the Gulf Cup squad.

Professional players Omar al Maliki, Zaher al Aghbari and Arshad al Alawi recently joined the camp after the first friendly against Syria.

The Dubai camp includes 29 players namely, Ahmed al Rawahi, Mohammed al Musallami, Juma al Habsi, Salah al Yahyaei (Seeb), Harib al Saadi, Fayez al Rushaidi, Ahmed al Khamisi, Amjad al Harthy, Essam al Subhi, Khalid al Buraiki, Mahmoud al Mushaifri (Al Suwaiq), Ibrahim al Mukhaini, Ahmed al Kaabi, Ali al Hinai, Al Munthir al Alawi, Ahmed al Matroushi (Al Nahdha), Moataz Abd Rabbo, Yazid al Maashani, Awad al Shehri, Abdullah al Mishrafi (Dhofar), Musab al Maamari and Ahmed al Adawi (Al Rustaq), Fahmy Bait Durbin (Al Nasr), Waleed al Musallami (Bahla), Jameel al Yahmadi (Qatar’s Al Markhiya), Zaher al Aghbari (Bahrain’s Al Khalidiya), Omar al Malki (Bahrain’s Al Riffa), Hatim al Rawshdi (Jordan's Al Faisaly), and Arshad al Alawi (Al Kuwaiti).

Oman are targeting their third title in the Gulf Cup under the guidance of Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic. Oman had emerged champions in the 19th edition held in Muscat and 23rd edition hosted by Kuwait.

The 25th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup is scheduled from January 6-19, 2023, with the participation of 8 teams. Oman will meet hosts Iraq in the opening match at 7:45 pm (Oman Time) in Basra Stadium.

The second match will be on January 9 with Yemen at 5:15 pm at Basra Stadium, and third match will be against Saudi Arabia on January 12 at the Olympic Port Stadium (7 pm).