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Oman banks on new style, fan support


1/9/2014 12:05:49 AM

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The exposure that the Oman U22 team received on its difficult trip to Qatar for the recently held WAFF Championship has somewhat hardened the players for the big challenges they now face in the AFC U22 Championship, according to goalkeeping coach Haroon al Bartmani.


Oman takes on Myanmar in the opening Group A game on January 11.
Players

Oman players attend a training session in Muscat ahead of the AFC U22 Championship (Muscat Daily)

The other teams in the group are South Korea and Jordan.


In Doha, Oman was held to goalless draws by Bahrain and Iraq and it failed to get past the group stages after a lottery decided the team to advance from its group with all three teams locked on equal points.


Speaking to Muscat Daily on the sidelines of a training session at the Bait al Falaj ground on Tuesday, Bartmani said, ''The boys are in good shape now. Some tough matches over the past few months have given them the boost to take on big teams. Even though we were not able to make it to the knockouts of the WAFF event, the matches we played against Bahrain and Iraq were really tight.''


On the team's goalkeeping department, Bartmani said, ''We have three keepers to choose from - Mazin al Kasbi, Abdullah al Maamari and Qaiser al Habsi. In our last six games, they all took turns and played and we didn't let in a single goal. That is a good sign for the team going into this competition.''


Oman played two warm-up matches ahead of its opener against Myanmar.


It beat China 1-0 and then held North Korea to a goalless draw.


Kasbi promises fresh approach:


The Oman team's first-choice keeper Mazin al Kasbi has said that his side would display a new style in the tournament.
Mazin

Mazin al Kasbi

''We want to put up a completely different style of play, compared to the way we played in Doha, where we focussed a lot on defensive play.


''But for that, we need good support from our defenders. And this should work right from the first match. If we start with a win, we will get the confidence to do better as the tournament progresses


Muscat Daily

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