(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) It took two FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups and six games for Oman to taste its first success on the sport's biggest stage.
And Talib Hilal's men achieved it in style on the beach of Espinho in Portugal on Monday.
Yahya al Araimi celebrates with a back flip after scoring as Mundhir al Araimi looks on
Oman dealt Costa Rica a crushing 7-2 blow in its Group B match to notch up its maiden full points in a World Cup game.
The match between the two already-eliminated teams saw the Asian champion score in each of the three sessions.
Oman had lost its earlier two group matches going down 2-5 to fancied Switzerland and then losing 2-4 to Italy.
In Monday's contest a tight opening period had only Oman captain Hani al Dhabit's goal to show for but it was followed by a free-scoring final two periods with goals coming from the Omani duo of Yahya al Araimi Ghaith al Alawi and Costa Rica's Danny Johnson after the first break.
Further strikes from Araimi Dhabit followed by an Ishaq al Mas brace completed the rout while Johnson scored a consolation goal in the final period.
Oman coach Talib Hilal during the match on Monday
The defeat saw Costa Rica remain without a victory yet in the Beach Soccer World Cup as both teams headed home.
On its World Cup debut at the 2011 edition in Ravenna Italy Oman had finished empty-handed losing all three of its group-stage games to Argentina El Salvador and Portugal.
Speaking to Muscat Daily after Monday's massive win Oman coach Talib Hilal who has been with the team since its inception in 2008 said 'I am very happy as this is our first win in the Beach Soccer World Cup we won by a big margin. We had two bad matches in particular against the Swiss in our opener. But I am glad that we are returning home with a win.'
Talib added 'The boys played well. In the opening match we committed a lot of mistakes and probably the players were nervous. Against Italy we had a much better game although we lost. The difference between the sides that beat us and our team was the experience factor' he said.
The Oman coach said 'Switzerland and Italy came to Portugal soon after playing in the European Championship in Baku Azerbaijan. Compared to the kind of preparation they had we did not get to play any friendlies before leaving for Portugal.'
Talib said 'After winning the Asian and GCC tournaments in Doha Qatar in April we only had extensive training sessions. We tried to host teams for friendlies but could not manage. It affected us here but my players gave their best and I am proud of them.'
The experience of Dhabit Araimi and Mas came to the fore on Monday as they were among the scorers.
Oman captain Hani al Dhabit (right) celebrates the win with his teammates
The trio was part of the team in Ravenna too and Araimi was one of the star performers during Oman's Asian title win with seven goals at the AFC Championship.
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