Soccer-Oman at the Asian Cup
Dec 29 (Reuters) - Factbox on the Oman team ahead of the Asian Cup, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates from Jan 5 to Feb 1: FIFA world ranking: 82 Ranking in Asia: 10 Previous Asian Cups: 3 Best performance: Group stage (2004, 2007, 2015) 2015: Group stage Nickname: The Reds Coach: Pim Verbeek Regular captain: Ahmed Mubarak Player to watch: Ahmed Mubarak Recent form: Oct 16 Oman 0-0 Ecuador Doha Nov 16 Oman 1-1 Syria Muscat Nov 19 Oman 2-1 Bahrain Muscat Dec 13 Oman 2-1 Tajikistan Muscat Dec 16 Oman 1-0 Tajikistan Muscat Fixtures: Group F Jan 9 Uzbekistan v Oman Sharjah Jan 13 Oman v Japan Abu Dhabi Jan 17 Oman v Turkmenistan Abu Dhabi Under former Australia coach Pim Verbeek, Oman won the keenly contested Gulf Cup title in early 2018 and take confidence from that performance and several other strong showings throughout the rest of the year into the Asian Cup. Oman have never advanced beyond the group phase of the continental championship in their previous three involvements in the competition, but the pragmatic Verbeek has built a resolute side that mixes youth and experience in equal measure. (Compiled by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
