2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers | Oman vs India
India to travel to Muscat to face a strong Oman at the Al-Seeb Stadium on Tuesday, after consecutive draws, for their fifth match of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. The Blue Tigers are fourth on the table with just three points while Oman are behind Qatar with nine points in four games.
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Preview
The last time these two nations faced each other was at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, where India despite leading until the 82nd minute went onto concede two late goals and lose the match. Since then, the Blue Tigers could only manage three draws - against Asian Champions Qatar in their backyard, and then against minnows Bangladesh and Afghanistan in home and away respectively. The main weakness of Igor Stimac's men is their inability to score from open play and all of the three goals in their last matches have come from set-pieces.
Oman are clear favourites in the match with good form and advantage of playing at home. They have only lost to Qatar in the group and in their last match, the reds thrashed Bangladesh 4-1. India are desperate for a win to keep their slight hopes of qualification alive,but things won’t be easy for India.
Key Players
FC Goa's attacking midfielder Brandon Fernandes is the man in form for India. The Goan player assisted all three goals scored by India in the qualifiers from his set-pieces. He is also a workaholic with Udanta and Ashique and combines well with them. India's tall custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will be crucial in handling the strong attacks from Oman forwards.
Oman's left-winger Al Mandhar Al Alawi has already scored four goals in the qualifiers including two against India. The youngster will be the danger man who can wreck damage to the Indian defence. Saad 'Suhail' Al Mukhaini will be the tough man at the defence Omani defence, the defender will be crucial in silencing the Indian guns.
Team News
Indian coach Igor Stimac has stated that he is not afraid to field an entirely different eleven from the game against Afghanistan. The only player missing in the Indian squad will be defender Anas Edathodika, who has returned home due to personal reasons. Stimac may give a chance to last match's goal scorer Seminlen Doungel in place of Sahal Abdul Samad who had a cold game against the Afghans.
Head to Head
Both teams have played each other eight times and India have only won one that too in their first-ever meeting in 1994. Oman have won 5 times including this year’s 2-1 win over India in Guwahati. The rest of the two matches remained a draw which includes a friendly before the 2019 Asian Cup.
Form Guide
Oman: W-L-WW
India: D-D-D-L
Predicted Line-ups
Oman: Faiz Al Rushaidi, Mohammed Al Musalami, Ali Al Busaidi, Khalid Al Buraiki, Saad Al Mukhaini 'Suhail', Ahmed Al Kaabi, Moataz Saleh Rabbo, Al Mundhir Al Alawi, Ahmed Mubarak 'Kano', Arshad Al Alawi, Mohsin Al Ghassani
India: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Pritam Kotal, Rahul Bheke, Adil Khan, Mandar Rao Desai, Pronay Halder, Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Udanta Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Manvir Singh
Manager History
Erwin Koeman
The Netherlands-born coach is an experienced coach from his vast experience in Europe. The former Dutch midfielder, who played for PSV Eindhoven, has coached the Hungarian Nation team and his home countries club Feyenoord and Utrecht. He also worked as an assistant with Premier League clubs Everton and Southampton and Turkish giants Fenerbache. Since taking over the reins from fellow countryman Pim Verbeek, Koeman has an excellent record with Oman.
Igor Stimac
The Croatian coach who took over the reins from Englishman Stephen Constantine after the Asia Cup has created a new India. The former Croatian defender is transforming the Indian style of play with a passing and possession-based game. However, his style of play is not yet adopted by the Indians and fans are hoping for better results.