Oman Daily Observer

Red Warriors aim for away victory against Malaysia

- ADIL AL BALUSHI

Oman will target to stay at the top of the group and get inch closer to the progressio­n when they take on hosts Malaysia in Group D of the Preliminar­y Joint Qualificat­ion – Round 2 for the Fifa World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 on Tuesday. The match will kick off at 6:00 pm (Oman time) at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.

Red Warriors lead the standings currently by six points with goal difference than Kyrgyzstan and Malaysia after a crucial victory in the previous round against Malaysia by 2-0 in Muscat.

Oman will enter the match knowing that the rivals potential are to register a victory especially they are playing in their own ground at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium with fans support.

Today’s triumph will raise the hopes of the national team to secure the direct ticket to AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027 and move to the next stage of the Fifa World Cup 2026.

Therefore, Coach Jaroslav Silhavy’s men will work hard to accomplish their target. On the other side, it will be a challengin­g assignment for Red Warriors as Malaysia will be looking for the compensati­on after their defeat few days ago. The Malaysian side will aim on registerin­g a strong bounce back and will rely on that by the home ground advantage.

WINNING POINTS

Czech coach Jaroslav Silhavy, Oman’s national team football coach, affirmed that the team prepared very well for the game. “We hope to return back to home with the same winning result last week in Muscat. The opponent is a good team, well discipline­d on the pitch and we are showing our respect to them. I am confident on my team players as we prepared very well for the tight encounter and we are fully aware of the Malaysian team’s technical style,” he said during the press conference on Monday.

The 62-year-old added in his remarks that Malaysia team is one of the organised teams in Asia and delivered a top game in Muscat. “We will work hard to stop their attacks. Although, we are missing the efforts of our key striker Issam al Subhi who is an essential player inside the green field but we have the suitable substituti­ons,” he added.

Oman’s player Ali al Busaidy said that the purpose of this match is to duplicate the victory and gain a significan­t three points. “We are confident to repeat the win again.

As players, we will implement all the instructio­ns of the head coach. Malaysia team have many top players and we respect them. Our head coach is aware of the technical level of the opponent and he will address the right tactic to stop them on the field. As national team players, we are in good shape to adapt with any circumstan­ces that could be faced by the team,” he concluded.

Oman players are in good shape to face the Malaysian team challenge with an eye on registerin­g the second successive triumph. Silhavy may use the similar starting line up of the last game except Issam al Subhi who received two yellow cards.

The replacemen­t of Al Subhi may be from Mohammed al Ghafri, Hatim al Roushdi, Jameel al Yahmadi and Abdulrahma­n al Mushefri.

 ?? ?? Oman head coach Jaroslav Silhavy with player Ali al Busaidy.
Oman head coach Jaroslav Silhavy with player Ali al Busaidy.

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