Sunday 24 / November / 2024
Muscat: Erwin Koeman has been dismissed as coach of Oman’s national football team, following a meeting at the headquarters of the Oman Football Association.
The Oman News Agency, the Sultanate’s state-run news agency, said, “The Oman Football Association announces the dismissal of Dutch Coach Erwin Koeman from training the senior national team, but will maintain the auxiliary technical staff, until a contract with a new foreign technical team has been agreed.”
Koeman’s dismissal comes in the wake of Oman’s poor showing at the recently held Arabian Gulf Cup, where the Sultanate were knocked out in the group stages, despite being defending champions, a feat they achieved in 2018 when they beat the United Arab Emirates on penalties in
Kuwait City.
In Qatar, however, Oman only managed one win – a 2-1 victory over Kuwait in which Abdul Aziz Al Maqbali scored two penalties – while drawing 0-0 against Bahrain and losing 3-1 to Saudi Arabia in their deciding match. Bahrain would ultimately go on to win their first ever Gulf Cup, beating Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final.
A statement from the Oman Football Association added: “After the board discussed the recommendations of the Technical Committee submitted from the previous two meetings, as well as their evaluation of the participation of the senior national team at the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup in Qatar, the OFA has decided to exclude national team coach Erwin Koeman from the team’s training plans, while maintaining the auxiliary technical staff until a contract for a new foreign technical team is agreed upon.”
Oman’s next game is their combined qualifier for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup, which will take place against Afghanistan on March 31, 2020. Oman are currently second with 12 points from five games in the second round of qualification.
