Oman, Congo share spoils in four-goal friendly

MUSCAT — Oman struggled to hold a spirited DR Congo to a 2-2 draw in their friendly match at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex here yesterday.

The hosts who dominated the first session — taking the lead off a beautiful header by defender Jabr al Awisi in the seventh minute — looked wanting in their defence in the later period.

Congo DR, who trailed 0-1 at half time, regrouped themselves well during the interval and equalised soon after through a penalty by Emomon Ngoy.

Oman custodian Mohammed Huwaidi anticipated the shot correctly and stopped it but then fumbled and the ball bounced in front of him to be tapped by the Congo striker again.

Both the teams tried to increase their margin as the game progressed.

Hassan Muddhafar, captaining the home side, increased the margin in the 57th minute.

Congo boys scored again in the 78th minute — a header by Yves Angani to make the scores level.

Oman would have been in deeper trouble when minutes later the Congo striker's kick was wayward in front of an empty Oman goal.

Oman coach Paul le Guen looked happy with the result. ‘‘I consider this to be a good game for my boys.’’

‘‘It is more satisfying especially because most of my frontline players who played in the World Cup qualifier Australia and Saudi were not playing against Arabia here.’’

On the other hand Caude le Roy, the Congo DR coach looked equally satisfied. ‘‘We too were not playing many of our first choice players as most of them are playing in Europe,” Le Roy said.

Le Roy was all praise for his players. ‘‘My boys fought well in the second half and dominated the entire session.’’

Le Roy, who was the Oman coach a few years ago, also wished Oman all the best in their encounter against Thailand on February 29.

In the World Cup qualifiers, Oman (5 points) are currently in third place in four-team Group ‘D’ behind already qualified Australia (12) and Saudi Arabia (6).