‘Focus on physical training’ as coachless Oman begin conditioning camp

Muscat: The Oman Football Association (OFA), who are yet to announce the replacement for sacked national team coach Paul Le Guen, have revealed a list of Oman players who will undergo an internal training camp from Monday.
The Sultanate’s soccer governing body once again took to twitter on Sunday to announce the details of the camp as well as the names of the players who are called up for the camp. It may be mentioned that back on November 19, OFA announced the sacking of Frenchman Le Guen in a simple one line tweet ‘OFA decided to relieve coach Paul Le Guen from his duties as Head Coach of the First National Team’.
Most the 22 players, including three goalkeepers, who are called up for the camp are home based and are scheduled to undergo training till January 12.
When contacted by Times Sport to know who will be coaching the players during the camp and when the new coach will be appointed, OFA chief Sayyid Khalid Al Busaidi informed: “It’s business as usual in the preparation or the training of the national team players. “The special focus will be on physical training,” he added, “as the ‘detailed search’ for a new national coach continues.”
Necessary decision
Meanwhile, in another tweet, the OFA said: “The OFA board has completed the analysis of the candidates for the post of national team coach. The board will take a necessary decision in this regard during the next week.”
The 22-player team, who are called up for the camp on Sunday, includes three goalkeepers Riyad Sabit, Fayeez Al Rusheedi and Mazen Al Kasbi. The other players are Mohammed Al Musallami, Mohammed Sheiba, Saad Suhail, Ali Al Busaidi, Basil Al Rawahi, Ali Salim, Abdulsalam Amer (defenders), Raed Ibrahim Al Haikal, Hussain Al Hadhari, Mohsin Jawhar, Ali Al Jabri, Salah Al Yahya’ei (midfielders), Mohammed Al Ghassani, Abdulaziz Al Maqbali, Imad Al Hosni, Mohsin Al Ghassani, Qasim Said, Saud Al Farsi, Said Obaid (forwards).
The OFA terminated Le Guen’s contract after Oman’s 1-2 away defeat to Turkmenistan in a crucial Group D qualifying match of the 2018 World Cup/2019 Asian Cup. Oman, who have 11 points against group toppers Iran’s 14, are in danger of not able to clinch the direct berth into the next round of the World Cup qualifiers, provided Iran win both their next games. However, Oman still have a chance to clinch the top spot in the group if they defeat Guam and Iran in their next matches in March.
List of Oman players called up for camp: Riyad Sabit, Fayeez Al Rusheedi, Mazen Al Kasbi (goalkeepers); Mohammed Al Musallami, Mohammed Sheiba, Saad Suhail, Ali Al Busaidi, Basil Al Rawahi, Ali Salim, Abdulsalam Amer (defenders); Raed Ibrahim Al Haikal, Hussain Al Hadhari, Mohsin Jawhar, Ali Al Jabri, Salah Al Yahya’ei (midfielders); Mohammed Al Ghassani, Abdulaziz Al Maqbali, Imad Al Hosni, Mohsin Al Ghassani, Qasim Said, Saud Al Farsi, Said Obaid (forwards).