Asian Cup Team Profile: Oman

Oman is ranked seven places higher than Australia and will have no intention of merely making up the numbers, despite inevitably being overlooked in the pre-tournament reckoning with wily Frenchman Paul Le Guen in charge and

Oman coach Paul Le Guen addresses his squad at training in Canberra on Tuesday 6 January (AAP)

COACH: Paul LE GUEN (FRA)

CAPTAIN: Ali AL HABSI (Wigan/ENG)

NICKNAME: The Red Warriors

ASIAN CUP APPEARANCES: 2 (2004, 2007)

BEST FINISH: Group Stage

FIFA RANKING: 93

AFC RANKING: 7

HOW IT QUALIFIED: Finished ahead of Jordan to win Group A without losing a single match and conceded just once across the six games.

RECENT FORM: Reached the semi-finals of the Gulf Cup despite winning just the one match but lost both that fixture and the third-placed match before holding Qatar to a 2-2 draw on New Year's Eve and then falling 4-1 to China in the final lead-up fixture early in the new year.

MAIN MAN: Ali AL HABSI (Goalkeeper/Wigan/ENG)

The most successful player – by a clear margin – in the history of Omani football, Al Habsi has spent several years playing in the English Premier League with Wigan Athletic but with his side relegated and facing a lack of playing time this is a crucial juncture in the 33 year old's career.

A former firefighter at Muscat's international airport, Al Habsi arrived late into camp and will need to be at his best if Oman is to progress from Group A.

ONE TO WATCH: Raed SALEH (Midfielder/Fanja)

The 22 year-old who will likely line up on the right of a four-man midfield and is regarded as one of the brightest prospects in Omani football.

Lithe, a good mover and passer of the ball, Saleh will likely be given licence to cut in and link up with the front two.

OVERVIEW:

It's easy to lose track of time when you spend an afternoon meandering around the Corniche area of Muscat; old men idly chatting under pagodas, the clamour on the edge of the Mutrah Souk and the vast expanse of water out to the Gulf Of Oman.

The country has an easier, slower, way of life than many of its neighbours and for a long time this was reflected in the domestic football scene.

Slowly though change is coming; the nation is midway through the second full season of a new, professional, competition – the Oman Professional League - and already the signs are positive.

The 14-club tournament has been a long time coming and officials within the country believe it will kick-start player development and ultimately lead to a more competitive national team.

In the short-term what it's done is seen players gravitate towards those clubs that are paying decent money; Al Oruba finished 11^th last season before bringing in a host of national team players and now sits clear at the top almost half of the way through this current campaign.

Four of the players that arrived over the past year are likely to start here – defenders Abdul Salam Al Mukhaini and Saad Suhail and both the defensive midfielders Ahmed Mubarak and Eid Al Farsi while in total there are six representatives from the club located in Sur, 150 kilometers south-east of the capital.

Oman knows it will need to be well organised against both Australia and Korea Republic and this has been a trademark of the side since Paul Le Guen arrived almost four years ago.

In the recent hit-out with China the side was highly competitive for most of the first half and the early stages of the second – as soon as it lost the ball going forward, the wide midfield players, likely to be Qasim Said on the left and Raed Saleh on the right, tucked in and the team held tight with two, narrow banks of four that proved very difficult to play through or around.

As the players tired over the second half – and it was a hot afternoon – space opened up frequently and deeply and that must be a worry for Le Guen.

If the side can maintain intensity for longer periods it has the potential to take points off either Australia or Korea and clearly loom as the spoiler within the group.

Not withstanding the 5-0 Gulf Cup thrashing of Kuwait, Oman isn't known as a side that will score a whole lot of goals but in strikers Abdulaziz Al Muqbali (who had a previous stint in Saudi Arabia) and the lanky veteran Amad Al Hosni – it possessed a pair of lethal finishers.

The side has had a solid preparation, has one of the longest serving coaches at the tournament and has a National Technical Director, Australian Jim Selby, who will know a lot about the side's group opponents so Oman certainly appears in much better shape than Kuwait.

There are positive winds sweeping through Omani football but in just its third appearance at the tournament building on its solitary win (in 2004) may be considered a marker of incremental progress.

PREDICITION: GROUP STAGE

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: 4-2-2-2

FULL SQUAD:

GOALKEEPRS: 1. Ali AL HABSI (Wigan/ENG); 18. Mazin AL KASBI (Fanja); 22. Suleiman AL BURAIKI (Al Nahda)

DEFENDERS: 2. Mohammed AL MUSALAMI (Fanja); 3. JABER AL OWAISI (Al Shabab); 5. Nasser AL SHIMLI (Al Oruba); 11. Amer Said AL SHATRI (Dhofar); 13. Abdul Salam AL MUKHAINI (Al Oruba); 15. Ali Salim AL NAHAR (Dhofar); 16. Ali AL BUSAIDI (Al Nahda); 17. Hassan MUDHAFAR (Al Oruba); 19. Abdul Salam AL MUKHAINI (Al Oruba)

MIDFIELDERS: 4. Ali AL JABRI (Fanja); 6. Raed SALEH (Fanja); 7. Mohammed AL SIYABI (Al Shabab); 8. Eid AL FARSI (Al Oruba); 12. Ahmed MUBARAK (Al Oruba); 21. Mohsin AL KHALDI (Saham)

FORWARDS: 9. Abdulaziz AL MUQBALI (Fanja); 10. Qasim SAID (Al Nasr); 14. Yaqoob ADBUL-KARIM (Saham); 20. Amad AL HOSNI (Saham); 23. Said AL RUZAIQI (Al Nahda)

GROUP A FIXTURES:

Saturday 10 January 2015
Korea Republic v Oman, Canberra

Tuesday 13 January 2015
Oman v Australia, Sydney

Saturday 17 January 2015

Oman v Kuwait, Newcastle