Oman take on Kuwait in West Asian opener

Muscat: Oman Under-20 football team will commence their journey at the 2024 West Asian Championship in Saudi Arabia with a match against Kuwait in the opener at King Fahd Sports City in Riyadh on Tuesday. Oman is in group A with hosts Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Yemen while group B comprised Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Albania. Syria will compete Bahrain, the UAE and Palestine in group C.

Oman will meet Yemen in the second match on June 27 before concluding its group matches against the hosts Saudi Arabia on June 29. The group matches format will be played as one round league system and the topper from each group will advance to the semis. The best second placed team among the three groups will join the group toppers to the semifinal which start on July 3. The finals will be held on July 5.

The Sultanate of Oman team, under the supervision of the national head coach Ahmed al Alawi, resumed their technical preparations for the West Asian tournament on Thursday after the Eid Break. Coach Ahmed and his assistant coaching staff focused on the physical and fitness areas of the players beside implementing some tactical trainings.

The coaching staff of the national team will aim from this essential participation to warm up for the main assignment at AFC U20 Asian Cup 2025 Qualifiers which will take place in September in Tajikistan. Oman, Tajikistan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and North Korea are in Group E. The qualifiers will be played during September 21 to 29. The 10 group winners and five best second-placed teams will advance to the finals as China will host the tournament during February 6-23, 2025.

Oman’s latest presence was in Iraq for a short abroad camp earlier this month. The camp in Basra featured two friendly games against Iraq. In the first match, Iraq beat Oman 3-1 with the only goal for Oman scored by Ghassan al Masroori. In the following match, junior Red Warriors managed to bounce back and register a 1-0 win over Iraq with Al Masroori again on target. Also, the team had concluded an external camp in Manama city in Bahrain in May. During the camp, the national team had played two friendly games against Bahrain. Bahrain won the first match 2-0 while the second game finished in a goalless draw. In March, the Oman players attended a camp Kuwait and played two games against the hosts. Oman won the first match 3-1 and the second match 1-0.

Oman squad: Majid al Farsi, Ghassan al Masroori, Shihab al Mukhaini, Ahmed al Shanfari, Mohammed al Sameen, Fahad Abdullah, Abdulaziz al Shaqsi, Adnan al Mushefri, Said al Ghanbousi, Jawad al Azi, Al Hussain al Qasmi, Al Harith al Mashaikhi, Mohammed al Maqbali, Ali al Alawi, Momen al Solui, Oadi al Manwari, Muhannad al Saadi, Yousef al Shabibi, Fahad al Mukhaini, Rabee al Sunaidi, Abdullah al Jabri, Abdullah al Maamari and Ziyad al Jaalani.