Kuwait: The Oman national team is looking forward to holding Saudi Arabia in the semifinal match at Jaber Mubarak Al Hamad Stadium in Sulaibikhat City in Kuwait on Tuesday.
The national team aims to be in the final competition of the 26th edition of the Arabian Gulf Cup.
The Oman team qualified for the semis after a thrilling match against the UAE on Friday, which ended 1-1.
The Saudi team passed to the semis after beating Iraq on Saturday.
Oman team is highly motivated to achieve victory and confirm the ambitions for the Gulf wedding final.
The Red Warriors are reaching the semifinals for the seventh time out of 10 editions after the group system was launched 20 years ago.
Oman reached the final five times, won the title twice in the 19th and 23rd editions, and lost the final in the 17th, 18th, and 25th editions.
It has become imperative to be careful not to fall into the trap of conceding early, as suffered in the group stage against Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE, respectively.
The national team's match against Saudi will be the first of the semi-finals of Gulf Cup tournaments. Saudi Arabia has the advantage with 17 wins, compared to 3 wins for the national team.
Rasheed bin Jaber al Yafei, Oman national football team coach, in the press conference on the eve of the match said: “The match is important, as it has good elements and its history attests to that. Our team needs to be ready for this match. I trust all the players, and indeed the absence of Al Musalmi is significant, but I trust all the substitutes.
“Mistakes exist with all teams, hoping that our team will succeed in reaching the final. Our team must work double hard in order to win the title. Omani players are ready for all possibilities, including playing for 120 minutes or penalty kicks. We need mental focus for this important match.
"Salah al Yahyai and Amjad al Harthy will not be able to play due to injury, in addition to Mohammed al Musalmi, team captain. The Saudi team is good and has high-level players, but our team has the ability to face them.
“All teams qualified for the semi-finals are good candidates to win the title, and their chances are equal,” he said.
Issam al Subhi, Oman national team player, and Abdullah al Hamdan, Saudi Arabia player, are competing for the top scorer title as they have three goals each.
The match will be officiated by Turkish referee Halil Olmut, assisted by Kerim Ersoy, Ibrahim Ciglar, and Mustapha Gherbal. Japan's Eddie Jamie is a video assistant referee, assisted by Mohammed Obaid.
The Referees Committee decided to end the journey of the refereeing crews representing the four teams that reached the semi-finals to ensure equal opportunities.
Accordingly, Oman's international crew, Qassim al Hatmi, Hamad al Ghafri and Nasser Ambusaidi, ended their journey after they managed matches in the group stage.
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