We had some injuries but all have recovered including Mohammed al Musallami, Mohsin al Ghassani and Ahmed al Kaabi. Serbia camp was good and the team prepared well during the overseas gathering
Branko Ivankovic
Head coach
MUSCAT, Sept 1
Oman will take on heavyweights Japan in their opening match of group B at the deciding round qualifier to 2022 Fifa World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup on Thursday. The match will be played at the Panasonic Suita Stadium at 14:10 (Muscat time).
The Red Warriors will look to end the tough encounter with a positive result that will encourage the team members to show their top performance in the remaining fixtures. Branko Ivankovic’s heroes are all set for the crucial game as the team arrived to Osaka city on Saturday and had few training sessions after the long overseas preparatory camp in Serbia.
Head coach Ivankovic voiced confident to deliver top performance that will make Oman fans proud. “I can assure that the team players will do their level best to spread joy for Oman’s community. We are pleased to be in this final round of qualifier. We are in a tough group that feature heavyweight teams who attended the Fifa World Cup many times,” he said in a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
TOUGH ASSIGNMENT
The 67-year-old affirmed that the fixture against Japan will be a tough assignment. ”Japan is one of the top teams in Asia. I will not elaborate more about Japan’s players. They have good experience,” he added.
The Croatian coach said the team is fully ready for the match. “We had some injuries but all have recovered including Mohammed al Musallami, Mohsin al Ghassani and Ahmed al Kaabi. Serbia camp was good and the team prepared well during the overseas gathering,” he concluded.
The Sultanate goalkeeper Fayez al Rushaidi said the match against Japan will not be an easy task but said the players will deliver their top performance. “In all the 90 minutes, we will fight for good show and implement all the technical outcomes of the Serbia camp,” he said.
During the last warm-up sessions in Osaka, the technical staff headed by the Croatian coach focused on the technical and tactical sides. Also, the players trained well for building proper harmony among all the lines, moving flexibly towards forward lines of the opponents and creating scoring attempts and converting into goals. All the sessions were done under full supervision of Ivankovic.
The head coach finalised the starting line-up for Japan match after the training sessions at Yanmar Stadium in Nagai during the last few days. It is expected that Ivankovic will field Fayez al Rushaidi, Ali al Busaidi, Juma al Habsi, Fahmi Dorbeen, Amjad al Harthi, Zaher al Aghbari, Harib al Saadi, Abdullah Fazaw, Al Mundher al Alawi and Mohsin al Ghassani.
The last overseas camp in Serbia, which lasted for a month, featured many friendly matches which ended on winning note for Oman side. Oman trashed FK Kolubara 4-0 in the opening preparatory encounter while in the second fixture, the Sultanate team edged Qatar club 1-0. In the third match, Oman romped to an easy 3-0 win against Spartak Subotica club. In the concluding fixture, Oman posted a 2-0 victory over Serbia’s FK Vozdovac club.
OMAN’S CAMPAIGN
Oman’s campaign in the final round of qualifier will feature a home game against GCC rivals Saudi Arabia on Tuesday at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex. The Sultanate’s delegation will return to Muscat on Friday and gear up for the Saudi match. Then, Branko’s men will have an away game against Australia on October 7 and it will be followed with a home game against Vietnam on October 12.
In November, the Red Warriors will travel to China for their match on November 11. Five days later, the national team will host Japan on November 16. Oman will meet Saudi Arabia in Riyadh on January 27 and then host Australia in Muscat on February 1. The penultimate fixture is an away tie against Vietnam on March 24 and then the concluding game against China at home on March 29.
