Muscat, Jan 9
Oman head coach Branko Ivankovic affirmed that the match was very tough after Oman edged Yemen 3-2.
“At the end, we managed to register a difficult victory. I expected that the opponent will show a very top game and that happened in the game,” the Croatian coach added in the post-match press conference.
Oman’s goalie Ibrahim al Mukhaini saved Oman from a draw in the dying minutes. Al Mukhaini, who hails from Sur, saved Yemen’s penalty by Mohammed al Dahi in the injury time.
Despite the triumph, Oman team did not show their top performance and the opponent could easily reach to Oman’s scoring areas. Moreover, Yemen team registered a 2-1 lead before Red Warriors shifted the encounter to their side at 3-2.
“The players were in the right position to record a strong bounce back despite Yemen leading 2-1. The victory was very crucial to continue and revive our chances in the tournament. The focus of the players reduced a lot in the last minutes.”
“The forthcoming match against Saudi Arabia will be again a challenging match and there will not be any easy game in this tournament. It is a great event to have a good contact with the teams that has perfect attendance at international level,” he added.
The 69-year-old referred the tough win of Oman against Yemen to different reasons. “The continuous rain impacted the green field which caused difficulty for the players to play properly. Both team players faced many obstacles on delivering the balls to their teammates due to slippery surface.”
Coach Branko said injured player Amjad al Harthi will miss rest of the Gulf Cup.
Amjad suffered injury during the first game against Iraq which ended in a goalless draw.
“Amjad will not be able to play in the rest of the Gulf Cup matches due to his injury. Moreover, Mahmood Mabrook is injured as well and he may not take part in the game against Saudi,” he concluded.
Man of the match, Salah al Yahyaei, said that it is great the match ended on a winning note. “Our focus now is to prepare very well for the forthcoming match against Saudi Arabia. I have recovered from injury and in full readiness to continue play in the rest of the matches,” he said.
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