Mazda Cup to begin on Dec. 8
POS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 CLUB Al Suwaiq Al Shabab Al Nasr Al Oruba Al Nahda Muscat Al Mudhaibi Saham Sohar Fanja Dhofar Mirbat Oman Club P 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 W 11 9 7 6 5 4 5 4 4 4 3 4 2 The Mazda Cup football first round matches will be held on December 8 and 9 with the quarterfinals set for December 16, according to the Oman Football Association on Wednesday.
In the opening match at the Seeb Stadium on December 8, Al Oruba will meet Muscat. In the later matches of the day, Dhofar and Al Mudhaibi will clash each other at Salalla Complex and Fanja take on Sohar at Seeb Stadium.
Omantel League leaders Al Suwaiq will open their campaign against newcomers Al Salam on December 9 at Sohar Complex.
Three matches will be held on both matchdays with 12 teams of the Omantel League competing to make it to the quarterfinals. D 1 1 3 4 4 4 1 3 3 2 4 1 6 3 L 1 3 3 3 4 5 7 6 6 7 6 8 5 GF 26 19 17 11 20 19 12 19 18 16 17 15 12 GA 12 11 10 9 18 17 17 20 21 20 16 27 13 GD 14 8 7 2 2 2 -5 - 1 - 3 -4 1 -12 -1 PTS 34 28 24 22 19 16 16 15 15 14 13 13 12
The dates of semifinals and finals will be decided later.
Defending Mazda Cup champions Al Nahda and runners-up Al Nasr have equaliser begging. DHOFAR IN RELEGATION ZONE
It was a forgetful first phase for defending champions Dhofar as they fell to the relegation zone with a 1-0 loss against black-horses Al Mudhaibi. Aahd al Hudaifi stunned the Salalah giants with a last-minute goal.
Dhofar only have 13 points from as many matches and stay 11th in the table just ahead of Mirbat only on goal difference.
Oman Club and Al Salam (both on 12 points) complete the bottom of the table.
Former champions Fanja managed to stay one point ahead of relegation with a 1-1 draw but some directly qualified to the quarterfinals by virtue of their top two places in the last edition of the tournament. Al Nahda edged Al Nasr 2-1 in the final last year. chances went a against fifth-placed Al Nahda (19 points). Moatasem Saif al Shibli rescued Fanja with an injury-time equaliser after Al Nahda were almost nearing a 1-0 win through a Admeer goal in the 69th minute at Seeb Stadium.
Elsewhere, fourth-placed Al Oruba stamped their performance in the first phase with 2-1 win over Muscat.
At Sur Sports Complex, Yousif al Mukhaini (16th minute) and Mazin Sadi (26th) netted for Al Oruba. Mahmood returned one goal for Muscat in the 85th minute.