Oman takes on Australia today 

(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Oman will begin its campaign against Australia in the Asian qualifying round for the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup at Katara Beach in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday. In Group A, Oman will also face Afghanistan and hosts Qatar in the qualifiers to be played from January 22-26.A total of 16 countries, pooled into four groups of four teams each, will be fighting for three spots from Asia for the World Cup that will be played in Tahiti from September 18-28. Oman is coached by Talib Hilal, who had helped the sultanate team qualify for the 2011 World Cup in Italy. Speaking to Muscat Daily before leaving for Doha on Sunday, Talib said, ''We are well prepared and we have a good chance of qualifying for the World Cup this time as well.''The Oman squad consists of experienced players like Hani Dhabit, Yahya al Araimi, Ishaq al Qasmi, Khalid al Rajhi, Jalal al Sinani, Yaqoub al Alawi, and keepers Haitham al Shuwain and Mohammed al Busaidi. Talib has picked four new faces - Khalid al Araimi, Mundheer al Araimi, Abdullah al Balushi and Raeed al Mukhaini.The Oman coach said, ''I selected the new players from a local tournament recently. But our success will depend mainly on how the seniors perform.''Under Talib, Oman clinched a gold medal at the 2008 Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia, followed by another winning finish in the inaugural GCC Beach Games in Bahrain in 2010. Talib said, ''As part of our preparations, we played two friendlies here in Muscat against Switzerland last week. That Swiss team was runnerup in the 2009 World Cup.''