Muscat, April 6
Oman futsal team commenced their campaign in the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022 Qualifiers with a 2-1 loss against Lebanon in the opening game on Tuesday night at the Zayed Sports Complex. In the same group, Saudi Arabia registered a tough 5-4 win over fighting Palestine in their opener. With the triumph of Lebanon and Saudi, both teams are leading in the group and Oman futsal team meet Saudi Arabia in a late match on Wednesday while Lebanon take on Palestine later on the same day.
Oman head coach Younis al Fahdi began the match with a line-up that featured Hisham al Balushi as the goalkeeper, Samer al Balushi and Mohammed Taqi were in defence while Zamil al Balushi and Mutasim al Shamsi were the attackers.
Lebanon started the match strongly while coach Younis al Fahdi’s men were in defence to prevent and break their attacks. The opening goal was scored in the 16th minute after a move from Lebanon that resulted in Mohammed al Lawati scoring an own goal. Later, Lebanese got more momentum to dominate the game and Mustafa Rhyem doubled their lead in the 25th minute.
Mutasim al Shamsi returned one goal for Oman in the 30th minute. Later, series of scoring attempts were unsuccessful for Oman, who were looking for an equaliser. Lebanon stayed on to keep the score at 2-1 and pick up three points.
In group B fixtures, hosts UAE suffered a 2-0 loss against Iraq as the latter snatched three crucial points in the group. Rafid al Maatoq and Salim al Husaynat confirmed Iraq’s victory as they netted the winning goals.