Oman will take on Australia in their third match of the Asian Qualifiers – Road to Qatar 2022 in Group B in Doha on Thursday. The match will kick off at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha at 10:30 pm (Oman time).
Red Warriors will chase for the sixth point in the fixture after their historic win over Japan earlier in the previous month. Then, the team suffered a shock 1-0 loss against Saudi Arabia.
Coach Branko Ivankovic’s men arrived in Doha since more than two weeks for a short camp ahead of the crucial match. The 15 days warm up gathering beside the friendly matches against Nepal and Qatar military team assisted the team and coaching staff to review on the team readiness and identify the starting line up for the upcoming match against Australia.
The first preparatory match for the Sultanate team against Nepal ended 7-2 for the former while Red Warriors ended the second match on a winning note as they beat Qatar Military team 2-1.
In both matches, the Croatian coach allowed all the squad to take part in the matches and evaluate their technical performances.
The Oman team were in full strength in Tuesday’s training session after the attendance of Fayez al Rushaidi and Zaher al Aghbari from Iran’s Mes Rafsangan club. Mohsin al Ghassani and Amjad al Harthi have injuries and may not take part in Australia game.
Oman have met Australia many times in the Asian Qualifiers. In 2014 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, Oman had managed to win once and the same for Australia while the other two encounters ended in draw.
The Bahraini referee Nawaf Shakar Allah will officiate the fixture. The assisting umpiring team is featured from Mohammed Jaafar and Abdullah Saleh (Bahrain). The fourth referee is Muhannd Qasim from Iraq and the VAR umpire is Mohammed Taqi and assisted by Sivakroon (Singapore).
