Oman Olympic team to take on Iraq in friendly

MUSCAT, AUG 29

The Oman Olympic (under-23) football team will take on Iraq on Thursday at Basra International Stadium in a warm-up match ahead of both teams' participation in AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 Qualifiers. The Oman Olympic team’s delegation arrived in Iraq on Monday for their last external camp ahead of the Asian qualifiers. The preparatory camp in Basra will run for six days before travelling to Amman city in Jordan to vie for a finals slot in the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024. The Asian Qualifiers will be held in Amman from September 4 to 12. Oman were drawn in Group A alongside Jordan (hosts), Syria and Brunei.

The Iraq Olympic team recently registered a 3-0 win over Yemen before their friendly game against Sudan in two matches. The first ended for Iraq at 4-2 while the following match finished in a 1-1 draw.

The forthcoming preparatory encounter against Iraq will address the starting list of the national team in the Asian event as national head coach Akram Habreesh will evaluate the individual performances besides shaping their readiness for the main assignment. The national team players were supposed to end Turkiye camp with a warm-up match against Algeria’s Pardou Athletic Club but the fixture was cancelled as the venue was under-prepared for the match.

The camp in Turkiye took place from August 16 to 27 and featured two friendly games out of four planned matches as two games were cancelled. The first warm-up match in Turkiye camp against Al Waab SC was not completed due to an injury to a Qatari club player in the 25th minute. Later on, the Oman Olympic team suffered a 2-1 loss against Al Khor SC in the following fixture. Oman’s goal was netted by Al Faraj al Kumi while Ahmed al Mohanadi and Locas Rebero scored for Al Khor SC. The third match was against UAE’s Fujairah FC which the Oman boys won 2-0. Both the goals were scored by Osama al Hadabi.

The coaching staff took the desired technical outcomes from both games as coach Habreesh tested many players in the match with numerous substitutions to ensure their match readiness for the major assignments. Habreesh’s men will target to secure one of the direct tickets to the finals which will be held during April 15 and May 3, 2024. The qualifiers format will be in a single round-robin at a centralised venue with the 11 group winners and four best second-placed teams going through.