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DPA - Oman will try to play fluent football and enjoy the experience of their crucial game against a powerful Iran side, coach Milan Macala said yesterday.
"For us it's a very difficult and very important game," Macala said by telephone from the central Chinese city Chongqing, where Oman are scheduled to play Iran on Saturday in Group D of the Asian Cup finals.
"We will try to win ... We will try to play football," Macala said of the game against Iran. "If possible we will take one point, if possible we will take three points."
Some have dubbed Group D the "group of death" at this year's Asian Cup, with favourites Japan and Iran, an emerging Oman, and a comparatively weak Thailand fighting for two quarterfinal places.
If Oman fail to take at least a point from Iran, Macala knows his young team will not progress beyond the group stage.
"Iran is a very strong team," he said, pointing to star midfielders Mohammad Ali Karimi and Mehdi Mahdavikia, and veteran striker Ali Daei.
But Oman will not be drawn into a negative game just because their survival is at stake, Macala said.
"You need points," he said. "But most important is the experience from this game." Oman has never previously played in World Cup, Olympic or Asian Cup finals.
Most of Macala's current players have competed in qualifying rounds for all three competitions. Last month, they narrowly missed qualification for the Olympic football finals in Athens, losing out to Iraq on goals scored.
With the Asian Cup finals to look forward to, and a chance of qualification for the 2006 World Cup finals, Oman's players were "not too disappointed" to miss out on Athens.
They took "many, many positive things" from the Olympic campaign, he said.
Macala also saw much ground for optimism in the match against Japan. Despite pointing to the difference in quality and experience, he said he felt "a little disappointed" with the 1-0 defeat.
"In the second half the players played at their maximum and created a few opportunities," he said at the post-match press conference. "As you know, football is all about opportunity and taking chances. We made a small mistake and Japan scored."
Oman had "four or five good moments" when they could have crafted a goal, Macala said on Thursday. Strikers Bader Mubarak and Yousuf Shaban, and midfielder Fouzi Basheer all came close to equalizing.
But Macala acknowledged that Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura's winning goal came from "beautiful play".
Macala believes Europe still produces some of the world's best football, with much that Asian teams and individual players can learn.
But while many Japanese, Iranian and other Asian players have found European clubs, Ali Al Habsi is the only Oman player to find work in Europe, joining Norway's Lyn.
"We must study very carefully football in Europe," he said. The recent Euro 2004 tournament was "fantastic". Some of the best football was played by his own native country, the Czech Republic, he said. |
