Oman chess team gears up for Arab championship in Tunisia
MADRID: A clinical Barcelona won 3-0 at Real Madrid in an intense second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal on Wednesday as a Luis Suarez double helped them secure a 4-1 aggregate victory and a spot in the final for the sixth straight season.
A dominant yet wasteful Real ravaged their rivals in the first half while spurning a string of clear chances at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Yet, Barca went ahead against the run of play in the 50th minute as Ousmane Dembele led a counterattack and Suarez slotted his pass into the net. Spearheaded by the pace and confidence of Brazilian teenager Vinicius Jr, Madrid continued to fly forward but failed to find the target.
Barca effectively killed off the tie when Raphael Varane bundled the ball into his own net as he tried to prevent Suarez reaching another cross from Dembele.
Suarez then earned a penalty and further humiliated Madrid by converting with an audacious ‘Panenka’, deceiving goalkeeper Keylor Navas by chipping the ball into Oman national chess team members are gearing up to take part in the Arab championship in Tunisia which will be held during March 3 to 8. The fivemember team is currently undergoing a comprehensive training camp.
The Oman Chess Committee (OCC) is keen to lift the players rankings through good results the championship.
The internal camp is divided into morning and evening sessions training and that included some preparatory games. Oman head coach Basheer al Qudaimi is aiming to sharpen the players’ games and increase their focus and mental readiness.
The Sultanate’s team players were selected from an internal tournament that was competed by many local players. The team list comprised of many experienced players including Salim al Omri, Salim Shammas and some new faces namely Hassan al Kathiri, Mohammed al Saidi and NUMEROUS CHANCES Real coach Santiago Solari stressed his side’s dominance in the game but cursed their inability to take their numerous chances.
“In football you have to be efficient and take the chances you get,” he said.
“We fell with honour, we could Mohammed al Omri.
Musalam al Wadhai, head of technical committee at OCC, said that all players are in fine shape with the existing camp. “All national team members are eager to learn from the head coach. The camp is part of the OCC target to accelerate the level of national team players. Our main focus is to boost international ranking of the players and specially for the newcomers of the team,” Al Wadhai added. do no more. We were not clinical but they were, and we go home feeling hurt because we really wanted to reach the final.”
Worst of all for Madrid, La Liga leaders Barca will be back at the Bernabeu once again on Saturday for a league fixture which, should they 11 COUNTRIES TO TAKE PART As many as 11 countries will take part in the Arab championship in Tunisia. The five-day championship will include the following countries: Tunisia, Yemen, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and the Sultanate of Oman.
Participation at this championship is one of the major milestones for the national team for the current year. OCC set the agenda of external participations for the Sultanate’s win again, would see them move 12 points clear of their arch rivals.
Barca coach Ernesto Valverde attempted to neutralise the threat of Vinicius by deploying right-sided defenders Sergi Roberto and Nelson Semedo to protect the left flank but the Brazilian was still the most team which began with Al Fujaira International tournament held in last January. The world school’s chess tournament will be held in Turkey in April while another tournament for junior category will take place during May in Jordan. The OCC will host one of the international chess tournament in August.
The OCC intends to develop and increase the number of local tournaments in classic chess in the upcoming two years. The aim dangerous player in the first half.
Vinicius could have won a penalty when Semedo clattered into him and had three clear chances to score before the interval, failing to hit the target twice from inside the area, and being thwarted by Marc-andre Ter Stegen. He continued to dance his way through Barca’s defence after the break but his final touch let him down. Shortly after Suarez’s opener, he cut into the box and delivered a cross which Sergio Reguilon met with a diving header, but Ter Stegen flew across his goal to repel the effort.
Madrid, who were also beaten 3-0 by Barca at the Bernabeu in La Liga last season and were thrashed 5-1 by their rivals back in October, lost their heads after that chance and there was no coming back following Varane’s own goal.
Barca seemed to relish their role as Real’s tormentors and Suarez took the ball from usual penalty taker Lionel Messi to complete their fourth victory in five visits to the Bernabeu with an ice-cool finish from the spot. behind boosting number of domestic activities is to improve the technical abilities of the players as well as to allow local players exchanging experience with professional players with high ranking levels through the international open tournaments.
The OCC also plans to prepare the national team players for the upcoming international tournaments that will be hosted by the Sultanate and OCC, which will be announced soon.