PETALING JAYA: Oman are the highest ranked team among the four countries competing in the inaugural Airmarine Cup football tournament, which kicks off at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow (Wednesday).
So, it’s not surprising then for World No 90 ranked Oman, who are coached by former Dutch international Erwin Koeman, have the target of winning the tournament, which also features hosts Malaysia (World No 167), Afghanistan (World No 147) and Singapore (World No 165).
“For me, this tournament is very important to assess each player’s performance as I do not know much about them,” said the 57-year-old Dutchman, who only recently took over the Al-Ahmar (The Reds) squad following the resignation of compatriot Pim Verbeek last month.
“But that is not an excuse. We must have the winning mentality and we are here to win the Cup,” he told a press conference here earlier today (Tuesday).
Oman will take on Aghanistan at 4.30pm tomorrow (Wednesday) while hosts Malaysia entertain arch rivals Singapore later at 8.45pm.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan head coach Anoush Dastgir plans to use the Airmarine Cup as a platform to gauge his players’ performances ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers, which start in June.
“We are taking this tournament seriously as it offers Fifa ranking points. We’ve assembled our best players and are looking forward to meeting Oman tomorrow,” said Anoush, who added that the players underwent two training camps in Turkey as well as played five friendlies in preparation for the Airmarine Cup. Bernama