The Oman national team is used to punching above its weight. Despite having the third-smallest population of those nations competing at the 2019 Asian Cup, Oman reached the last-16 — eventually losing 2-0 to established regional powerhouse Iran.
It was a first appearance in the knockout stage of the Asian Cup for Oman, which will be attempting to emulate the achievement this time around in Qatar. Branko Ivankovic’s provisional Asian Cup squad has a blend of youth and experience, with just 10 of those who featured in 2019 included again this time.
One of those returning players is Al-Seeb left-back Ali Al-Busaidi, whose 75 appearances for Oman make him the second-most capped player in the squad behind Al-Nahda midfielder Harib Al-Saadi.
“It is hard sometimes when you are one of the more experienced players in the squad because you feel a greater responsibility to your team-mates,” Al-Busaidi told Arab News from Oman’s pre-tournament training camp in Abu Dhabi.
“The focus is more on your team and not just your own performance because we are not just playing for our club, we are playing for our country. There is a responsibility for me, particularly with the younger players, to help them.
“They have a big motivation to do things but I think a lot of them are focused too much on social media sometimes — they are worried about what people will say about them but if you think this way as a professional footballer ... you cannot live your life.
“I feel responsibility to make sure they understand what it means to play for Oman and how to deal with the pressure in important moments.”
The first of those moments in the upcoming AFC Asian Cup will come in the Oman’s opening Group F match against Saudi Arabia on Jan. 16. The game comes a year after Oman defeated the Green Falcons 2-1 in the Arabian Gulf Cup, knocking their opponents out of the tournament at the group stage.
Al-Busaidi believes Oman have every reason to be confident, having historically proven difficult opposition for more established international sides at the Asian Cup. In the past two tournaments they battled to narrow 1-0 group-stage losses against Japan and South Korea.
“The Saudi team is better now,” Al-Busaidi said. “Like Oman I think they would benefit from having more players outside of the league of Saudi Arabia as this is how your team really improves, but there are obviously a lot of fantastic players there in the league now.
“The first match is always hard for the both teams because this can be the key for qualification. You cannot relax for a moment of any match; if you go to sleep, your opponents will punish you. It’s about staying in matches for as long as possible — every point counts and then if we get through the group, who knows?
“We aren’t afraid of anyone because we’ve shown that we can compete with Asia’s best sides. We should have drawn against Japan at the last Asian Cup but sometimes you are not lucky when you play against teams who are much stronger. But we know we can play.”
Victory over Saudi Arabia at last year’s Arabian Gulf Cup helped Oman to advance from the group stage and Ivankovic’s side eventually lost to hosts Iraq in the final, a heart-breaking defeat that came in stoppage time of extra-time. Al-Busaidi admits it took a bit of time for the players to pick themselves up but insists they are ready for tournament football again.
“The players were upset because it is a tournament we have won twice before,” the defender said. “For some of them it was the first time they reached the final and they really wanted to win the trophy but this is football — sometimes you win, sometimes you don’t. But this should encourage the players.
“I think after the Gulf Cup the motivation was maybe not like before, as when you reach the top and you are fighting hard, it is normal that after the tournament the mentality is not the same. But right now, they are working hard because this is more than the Gulf Cup. We are in the Asian Cup so the motivation must come up again.”
Al-Busaidi’s club manager at Omani side Al-Seeb is Jorvan Vieira, who triumphed against the odds with Iraq at the 2007 Asian Cup as overwhelming favorites Saudi Arabia were beaten 1-0 in the final. It is a result that has given hope to minnows across the continent in the intervening 17 years.
“There is a saying in Arabic that every champion is born from the negative things that happened in their life and we saw this with Iraq,” Al-Busaidi said. “They won it because the team was together.
“It is very hard to break teams like this because they are playing with their hearts and with spirit. Of course, we hope to be like this too.”
Oman’s veteran Croatian boss Ivankovic has been at the Gulf nation’s helm since January 2020, an impressive tenure in a region where coach turnover is notoriously high. He has built a united group of mainly Oman-based players; in the Asian Cup squad only captain Faiz Al-Rushaidi and midfielder Jameel Al-Yahmadi play overseas with Bahraini club Manama and Qatar’s Al-Kharaitiyat respectively.
Al-Busaidi believes the lack of foreign experience of Omani players is a hindrance but is hoping that the Asian Cup provides a platform for he and his team-mates to show other clubs on the continent what they can do.
“I think it’s a weakness (the lack of Omanis playing abroad),” Al-Busaidi said. “When you are playing with other players who are much better than you, you will improve and move toward their level. If Omani players move abroad this will benefit the while national team.
“For us in Oman, I think we are seeing potential in some Asian leagues that are improving, like Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, and we know that clubs there are looking for players. The Asian Cup is not like the Gulf Cup, this is a window for our players to potentially go outside of Oman and hopefully this will give them even more motivation in Qatar.”
