Oman may be a headline writer’s dream but their 1-0 win in Japan caused plenty of football people in Asia to wake up.
For Oman’s next opponent, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday’s Group B fixture in the third round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2020 World Cup in Qatar suddenly looks far tougher than it did a week ago.
Japanese legend Keisuke Honda summed it up on social media. “We lost?”, he asked before adding, “Oman are getting stronger.”
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu shared that view after the match.
“They dominated the game, they’ve prepared well. It was a difficult game for us,” said the experienced boss, who suddenly finds himself under pressure. The Japanese players may have been shocked to see their run of eight successive qualification wins come to an end but most agreed that the result was no fluke.
Few could begrudge the sight of the team celebrating on the sodden turf in Osaka, beaming behind the flag. Oman worked tirelessly from beginning to end. Lining up in a 4-4-2 formation, forwards Rabi Al-Alawi and Khalid Al-Hajri made life uncomfortable for the experienced Japanese backline. The midfield quartet produced a performance of tactical discipline and intelligence and did not allow the home team to create chances. In short, Oman made Asia’s best team look poor and, even when the Samurai Blue did find a way through, goalkeeper Faiyz Al-Rusheidi stood firm.
Throw in an inspired substitution that brought Issam Al-Sabhi on with six minutes left to sweep home the winning goal from Salaah Al-Yahyaei’s pass with two minutes left, and it was the perfect evening.
“We deserved to come out with a positive result,” Al-Sabhi said after the game. “This victory did not come from a vacuum, but rather through the efforts and planning of the technical and administrative staff, and the work of the players. The Omani people deserve this victory, to be happy and proud of us.”
Oman has been one of those mid-ranking Asian teams for some time, tidy and technical, without quite managing to match the big boys. Pim Verbeek was in charge from 2016 to the 2019 Asian Cup in the UAE, where the pragmatic Dutchman brought some defensive steel and organisation to the team that finished third in Group F behind Japan and Uzbekistan, to squeeze into the round of 16. There, the Sultanate team lost 2-0 to Iran.
Branko Ivankovic took the reins in January 2020 and continued the good work in the second round of World Cup qualification, and the team ended Group E with six wins and two losses, both narrow defeats to Asian champions Qatar. Ivankovic had been talking quietly of the improvements made by his team, and a month’s training camp ahead of the third round of games also helped. Now people are listening.
The unassuming Croatian coach has had quite a career. He took Iran to the World Cup in 2006, the country’s third appearance at the tournament after participation in 1978 and 1998.
That was a fine achievement with the highlight a 2-0 qualifying win in Pyongyang that resulted in hundreds of North Korean fans, angered at refereeing decisions, trying to storm the away dressing room and thousands surrounding the team bus located outside the Kim Il Sung Stadium.
In an interview days later, he said he was scared, as anyone would be in that situation, but knew he had to stay calm in front of his players.
Yet that experience did not really bond the team together and Iran were crippled by divisions at the World Cup in Germany. Since then Ivankovic has looked to ensure team spirit and teamwork remain paramount in his squads.
He won the Chinese Super League in 2010 with Shandong Luneng and then led Persepolis, Iran’s biggest club, to three league titles and a runners-up place in the 2018 Asian Champions League.
Now with Oman, he faces another big test against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. Oman will be confident but have to stay focused. “It was an excellent win but we know that Saudi Arabia will be very dangerous,” Ivankovic said. “We have studied them as much as we studied Japan and we know their strengths and weaknesses, and we also know they are a very good team. We are looking forward to the game.”
It could be a cracker.
