(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) The Oman football team will play friendly home matches against Costa Rica and Uruguay in October as part of its preparations for the 22nd Gulf Cup which will be played in Riyadh Saudi Arabia from November 13-26.
Oman faces Costa Rica at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex (SQSC) in Muscat on October 10 in the first of two friendlies scheduled by the Oman Football Association (OFA) on FIFA-sanctioned matchdays.
It will be followed by the Uruguay match to be played on October 13 at the same venue. Both Costa Rica and Uruguay produced impressive performances at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil progressing to the knockouts from their group at the expense of England and Italy.
Uruguay is ranked sixth in the world while Costa Rica is 15th. Costa Rica turned out to be the biggest surprise package in Brazil making it to the quarterfinal stage where it lost to The Netherlands on penalties. Meanwhile Oman will play an away friendly against Ireland in Dublin on September 3.
Oman faces a tough draw in the Gulf Cup. It plays defending champion UAE Iraq and Kuwait in Group B. Oman coach Paul Le Guen said 'It will be a very exciting time for our players. We are preparing hard to do well at the Gulf Cup and also trying to be ready for the 2015 Asia Cup [to be played in Australia in January]. To play teams of this standard will be a real test of how far we have developed. We look forward to all the Omani fans getting behind the team.'
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