‘If we keep our efforts up, we can beat Kyrgyzstan’
Oman coach Ivankovic proud of his players after draw against Thailand
Doha, Qatar - Branko Ivankovic commended the resilience of his Oman side after their Asian Cup Group F encounter with Thailand ended in a 0-0 draw on Sunday.
The Oman head coach also praised Thailand's defensive prowess and conceded to having been out of options when his side struggled to penetrate their opponents' resolute backline.
“I think every single player did a terrific job. Thailand built an extremely cohesive defence plan that simply got the better of us,” said Ivankovic. “But even though the boys were faced with a difficult challenge, they did not give up.
“We knew it was going to be difficult and would require a lot of effort, and that is exactly what our players delivered. I am extremely proud of them.”
The Croat also highlighted the
We knew it was going to be difficult and would require a lot of effort, and that is exactly what our players delivered. I am extremely proud of them. BRANKO IVANKOVIC
game against Saudi Arabia to emphasise Oman's fighting spirit and vowed to uphold the same determination in their final group stage match against Kyrgyzstan on Thursday.
“I have said it before but I’ll say it again, we started our Asian Cup campaign against one of the top favourites and we lost out on a win at the very end,” said the former midfielder.
“Against Thailand as well, we enjoyed more than 70 per cent possession despite the Thai team being incredibly compact and it says a lot about our team’s united efforts.
“We rely on each other to perform well and if we keep our efforts up, we can win against Kyrgyzstan.”
Thailand head coach Masatada Ishii was also satisfied with a share of the points and is looking forward to keeping a clean sheet in Thursday's crucial showdown against three-time champions Saudi Arabia.
“We expected a difficult game and I am quite happy that we managed to get a point. We have gone two matches without conceding and the plan is to maintain the streak against Saudi Arabia” said Ishii.
“Moreover, while we didn’t collect three points, it was an important day for our captain Theerathon (Bunmathan) who hit the milestone of 100 matches for Thailand and I’d like to congratulate him on his achievement.”
Ishii said while the War Elephants targeted all three points to clinch their spot in the knockout stage, they recognised the difficulty that Oman posed and had to adjust their strategy to secure the draw. “Winning and collecting the vital three points would have been ideal but once we figured out what was working and what was not, we felt we would be lucky to come back with at least a point.”