Monday 28 / April / 2025
Muscat: Oman will be looking for full points when they take on hosts Palestine in their Group D match of the AFC Asian Cup final round qualifiers in West Bank on Tuesday.
Dutchman Pim Verbeek-coached Oman go into the match with confidence after having started their campaign in the final round with a 14-0 rout of Bhutan back in March.
Verbeek, according to news posted in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) website, said now the focus is on Palestine.
“We knew we had the better team and there was a big chance to win the game, but to win by so many goals was a surprise to everybody,” the former Australia coach said of the win over Bhutan.
“Technically what the team did was good and the boys did exactly what they had to do on the field. We scored 14 goals, so we can only be happy with that performance and the first three points as well as the goal difference. That helps.
“But it’s just a game by itself, you play at home and we knew immediately after the game that we have the result and the points and then we focus on Palestine.
“We played against Syria last week in Muscat and that’s a tough opponent and it helps prepare us for a game like the one we have against Palestine. We were happy with our performance. We drew and Syria scored in the 93rd minute, so we could have won that game also. That gives us confidence.
“But these are friendlies, and it was 38 degrees in the evening and now it’s different.”
Big influence
Verbeek is no stranger to the Asian game having worked extensively around the region, leading South Korea to third place at the AFC Asian Cup in 2007 before taking the Socceroos to the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa.
As a result, he knows the challenges that lie ahead of his team as the qualifying rounds unfold along the road to the 2019 finals.
“The home games are the big thing in Asian football,” he said. “When you play at home you have a big advantage. That’s always the case because the other teams have to take long flights and have big time differences and different environments, the field and anything that you can see as an advantage. That’s how it is when you go away.
“For example, when we go to play Bhutan in November we will be playing at almost 2400 metres above sea level and it will be seven or eight degrees, which is not what Oman players are used to. That has a big influence.”
In addition to Palestine and Bhutan, Oman share Group D with the Maldives and, as a result, Verbeek and his team went into qualifying among the favourites to book a place at the finals.
Success would see Oman continue an impressive qualifying record in recent years that has seen the country appear at three of the last four tournaments.
“If you look only at the quality of the teams, for sure we are one of the best teams in our group but if you look at the circumstances and when or where you have to play the away games then it’s different,” he said.
“I saw the game in the Maldives on television against Palestine and the field is difficult to play on. We have a team that likes to play with the ball on the ground and with combination football. That’s what the Omani players are good at, so then we have to play our way of playing.
“Away games are always different, but we have in principal enough quality to qualify.”
