MUSCAT, April 13 - Sur’s head coach Mohammad al Oraimi, who was the former assistant coach of the national Olympic football team, is on a high after leading Sur to a historic fourth HM Cup triumph beating Fanja 2-1 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Thursday. The win has ensured that Sur will get a morale boost in the Omantel League where they are fighting to stave off relegation. The Sharqiyah team, who are currently placed at the 13th position with 16 points, will have to conjure up some positive results in the remaining rounds to avoid the ignominy of relegation.
Al Oraimi’s efforts will have to be seen through the context that he had very less time to turn things around for Sur, having taken charge less than a month back. The strength of Sur’s temperament as a team was on display as they overcame the disadvantage of being a goal down in the first half against Fanja. Al Oraimi’s leadership instilled self-belief in the team as they came back with a bang in the second half with the equaliser and then holding on to take the game into extra time. When he effected the substitution of Hisham al Shuaibi and brought in Ayman al Mukhaini, Oraimi was orchestrating a master-stroke.
Ayman eventually found the winner in the 95th minute of extra time thereby clinching the HM Cup title for Sur. Oraimi’s efforts have also come with the team struggling in the Omantel League. “It is a really difficult position that your team is battling to escape the relegation at OL and you lost the first half of the showpiece tournament. I talked to the players during the break to raise their morale. Our performance after the first half was different as the team equalised and brought the match back to its original point. Then we continued to put pressure at the opponents and that led to netting the winner,” Al Oraimi added.
The experienced coach affirmed that the competitor was very dangerous at the free kick as they scored the first goal from similar position. “I instructed the team members to play in full concentration and keep the ball in possession at our side until reaching Fanja’s net. Sur was the better side in the second half and the players missed scoring many chances,” Sur team’s said. Al Oraimi, who will travel shortly to Qatar to continue the high level coaching course “Pro”, dedicated the victory to all the people of Sharqiya in general and Sur fans in particular for their support throughout the match. Sur’s coach also thanked the great support from the board members and the player’s efforts to bring this accomplishment.
As many as more than 13800 spectators were in attendance for the prestigious HM Cup final. Half of the them approximately were supporters of Sur. After the end of the match, Sur’s fans began their celebration from Muscat until reaching Sur while the players arrived in Sur on Friday. The entire wilayat of Sur celebrated the big achievement at the coastal road (Corniche) until the late evening.
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