Holders Oman hope to ride momentum vs Bahrain

Buoyed by some good performances in the recent past, Oman have made the trip to Qatar looking to defend their Gulf Cup title.Ranked 77, Oman registered two victories — against Bangladesh and India — in the last few days at the joint qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup 2023. The World Cup qualification matches have helped the ‘Red Warriors’ to shape their readiness for the prestigious regional tournament which is expected to be a tough competition.Oman head coach Erwin Koeman is confident of a good performance from his boys in the tournament.“Expectations are always high especially if you are defending champions, but that’s not a problem for us. We are well-prepared. I think the boys are capable of a good show in the tournament,” Koeman said yesterday.The two-time champions will kick-start their campaign against Bahrain today at the Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium in Al Duhail.“We had our last training today in the morning and like every team we will need a little bit of luck as well – there’s not a lot of difference between teams here as this is a special tournament for all teams. We are looking forward to it,” the 57-year-old Dutchman said.Having enjoyed a long run as assistant coach to famous Dutch player and younger brother Ronald, Erwin Koeman has stepped up to become a first-team coach, replacing compatriot Pim Verbeek as manager of Oman in February 2019.So far, Koeman has overseen an impressive run, where the team has only one defeat from last eight outings. Central to Oman’s success has been a resolute backline, with the defending Gulf Cup champions only conceding five goals in Koeman’s tenure.Talking about the improvement in the team’s performance Koeman stressed the need to increase the fitness levels.“We try to increase our fitness levels. That’s the area where we have need work. Our facilities are not at the same level as Qatar, but we are dealing well with that. We have to find solutions to increase players’ fitness level as professionals.“We have some issues. I have led the team for nine months and I am not complaining about the fitness level. Boys are trying to increase their level, they are determined to achieve their goals,” he said.Captain and veteran midfielder Ahmed Kano, who guided Oman to their second title win in 2017, will again be the key man for the Red Warriors and he is looking to go all the way again in Doha.“To defend the title is a big challenge for us, but we are ready for it. Actually, after the World Cup qualifier game against India we are totally concentrating on the Gulf Cup, which has its own charm,” Kano said.Kano is no stranger to playing football in Qatar having enjoyed several spells in the second division. The captain will have to be at his very best if Oman is to become the first side since Saudi Arabia to win back-to-back Gulf titles.“We have harmony in the team as we won four games and we are on the right path. Even against Qatar in the World Cup qualifier we played well, missed a lot of chances,” the 34-year-old midfielder said.Talking about the game against Qatar the captain said we have to take one game at a time.“We will play Bahrain first. We can’t think about Qatar now. We are preparing game-by-game and we’ll fight to defend the title.”Oman have won the Gulf Cup on two occasions so far, having first lifted the trophy when they beat Saudi Arabia on penalties in Muscat in 2009, followed by another penalty shootout win against the United Arab Emirates in Kuwait in 2017.