(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman's 23-member football team which left for Australia on Friday night to compete in next month's Asian Cup 2015 arrived at its base in Canberra late on Saturday night Oman time.
The 16th edition of the premier continental championship will be played from January 9-31 over five cities - Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Canberra and Newcastle.
Oman is pooled in a tough Group A that comprises hosts Australia South Korea and Kuwait. Muscat Daily had first published Oman's likely team composition on Wednesday. Later national team coach Paul Le Guen officially announced the same squad retaining his core players for the much-awaited tournament.
Seasoned defensive midfielder Hassan Mudhaffar was declared fit to play and was included in the side but midfielders Mohammed al Mashari and Fahad al Jalboobi missed the trip due to fitness issues.
Goalkeeper Ali al Habsi will captain the team as Oman looks to improve on its group-stage finishes in 2004 and 2007.
The Red Warriors are scheduled to play friendlies against Qatar on December 31 and China on January 4 both in Canberra before starting their bid for continental glory with a Group A clash against South Korea on January 10 at the same venue.
Oman which finished fourth at the Gulf Cup this year will next face Australia on January 13 and conclude its league engagements with a match against 1980 Asian Cup winner Kuwait on January 17.
The top two sides from the four-team group will progress to the quarterfinal stage.
Oman's road to Australia
During the qualifiers the Omanis were drawn in Group A where they lined up against evenly matched Jordan Singapore and Syria.
When the action got underway in February 2013 Le Guen's men began with a 1-0 win against Syria thanks to striker Abdulaziz al Miqbali's first-half goal.
Oman then travelled to Singapore where it claimed a 2-0 win. Al Nasr-based winger Qasim Saeed scored the opener before Eid al Farsi struck. A second win pushed Oman to the top of its group - two points ahead of Jordan and five and six points ahead of Syria and Singapore respectively.
Faced with the prospect of a five-point advantage at the top Le Guen's men travelled to Jordan where they settled for a scoreless draw. The result helped Oman inch closer to the Asian Cup tournament proper at the halfway mark of the qualifiers.
Following a break for the 2013 Gulf Cup in Bahrain - where Oman disappointingly finished last in its group - it secured an injury-time 1-0 win at Syria to guarantee itself a spot at the Asian Cup 2015 with two more qualifiers remaining.
A 0-0 draw with Jordan and a 3-0 victory over Singapore both at home in Muscat ensured that Oman finished undefeated with four wins and two draws to claim the top spot in Group A.
Oman squad: Goalkeepers:
Ali al Habsi Mazin al Kasbi Muhannad al Zaabi; Defenders:
Abdulsalam Amour Mohammed al Mussallami Saad Suhail Jaber al Owaisi Ahmed Saleem Nasser al Shimli Ali al Busaidy Ali Salim al Nahar; Midfielders:
Ahmed Mubarak 'Kanu' Eid al Farsi Raeed Ibrahim Ali al Jabri Hassan Mudhaffar Mohsin Jawhar; Strikers: Imad al Hosni Abdulaziz al Miqbali Saeed al Ruzaiqi Mohammed al Siyabi Yaqoob Abdulkarim Qasim Saeed.
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