His Majesty honours OFA chief, football coach for Gulf Cup victory

Muscat: Muscat: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said conferred Oman Civil Order ‘Third Class’ on Salim bin Said Al Wahibi, Chairman of Oman Football Association (OFA) and First Class Order on Pim Verbeek, Manager of Oman Football Team in appreciation for their efforts during the 23rd Gulf Cup in the Kuwait.
The orders were handed over by Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal bin Saud Al Busaidi, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court in his office this morning. The orders’ handing over ceremony was attended by Sheikh Mohammed bin Said Al Mardhouf Al Sa’adi, Minister of Sports Affairs.
Chuck Martini, head coach of the Muscat Football Academy, also praised Oman’s achievements in winning the trophy.
“It was a deserved win for Oman,” he said. “I felt they were outstanding. In some ways it is a bit frustrating for Oman to win on penalties, because they played some amazing football but didn’t have a potent finisher to convert the chances they created. They did really well to get into the final third of the pitch; they deservedly played better football.”
“Coach Alberto Zaccheroni had to change his formation because he knew that Oman’s pace would hurt them, and it did kind of nullify them, but the Emirates were pretty poor during the game,” added
Martini, an ex goalkeeper for Leicester City and Morocco’s national football team. “They gave up possession on too many occasions, and I think Oman would have won it quite comfortably if they had someone up there to finish the chances.”
All in all, though, Martini felt the final was an exciting affair.
“I think the nation would’ve been excited to see their team win the game on penalties, but I think the decision to award the penalty against Oman right at the very end was very, very harsh,” explained Martini, a former academy coach at AFC Wimbledon. “Had Oman lost the final on that penalty decision, a lot of moods would have been sour in Oman had it not been for goalkeeper Faiz’ heroics, and that would have raised a real question mark over the officiating process in the final.” With inputs from Gautam Vishwanathan