Oman plan to make amends after 1-0 loss against Iraq

MUSCAT: Hosts Oman will look to exploit home conditions when they take on South Korea in their Group B campaign of the third round AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to 2026 at the Sultan Qaboos Sport Complex on Tuesday. The match kicks off at 6 pm.

Oman, coached by Czech Jaroslav Silhavy, will look to get their campaign back on track after they suffered an agonisingly close defeat [1-0] to Iraq in their opening match of the third round in Basra on Thursday.

The Czech head coach now hopes that the Red Warriors will make full use of home conditions to open their account in front of their fans against a tough opponent.

South Korea, too, would look to earn full points after they were locked in a 0-0 draw against Palestine on Thursday.

Silhavy believes his side deserved more in their 1-0 loss to Iraq and remains optimistic about his team’s campaign.

“The match could have ended with a better result than a loss, and the Iraqi team snatched the victory by exploiting a corner kick,” said Silhavy.

“Our players were able to regain their composure after falling behind but were unable to score. This loss does not end our campaign, and we will work hard to keep our hopes alive.”

The last time the two sides met was in the AFC Asian Cup 2015, which ended 1-0 in favour of South Korea, with the East Asians only having lost once in six previous meetings.

South Korea head coach Hong Myung-bo will need to reassess and improve their tactics after the East Asian side failed to find a way past the Palestinian defence.

“I think our players did their best until the end, but we got off on the wrong foot to begin this qualification phase. We’ll have to go back to the drawing board and start our tactical preparation for the next match,” said Hong.

“How these players feel is really important. Those based in Europe flew in to play right after playing their club matches, and they had some physical issues. We will have to monitor their condition and make our lineup decisions accordingly.”

The match will be officiated by Chinese referee Ma Ning, with Fei Zhuo and Sheng Zhang as assistant referees, and Di Wang as the fourth official. Fu Ming will oversee the video assistant referee (VAR) technology, supported by Shen Yinhu, with additional supervision from UAE’s Ali Hamad Al Badawi and Lebanon’s Bassem Al Zuhairi.

[With inputs from www.the-afc.com]