Team Melli continued its training in Muscat in preparation for the friendly international match against host Oman. Part of the preparation was a briefing by the technical staff and a 20 minutes film on the last match that Oman played against Australia.
Team Melli will be without Esteghlal players who will be playing around the same time against Al Shabab of Dubi in Azadi in the AFC Champions league and almost most of the legionnaires. Standard Liege player, Reza Ghoochanejad who has a slight injury , will be joining the team on the 27th May while Ando Teymourian is still recovering from injury in Doha, Qatar.
Shehab Gordan and Mehdi Syed Salehi are also absent from the match after they withdrew for personal reasons.
Meanwhile, Oman team will be suffering from some significant absentees. The most famous of them will be Ali Al Habsi , the Wigan Athletics goalkeeper. The premier league side has just won the FA Cup by defeating the mighty Manchester City at Wembley but a few days later, their celebration turned into mourning when they lost 4-1 to the Arsenal and subsequently were relegated. Al Habsi who was the regular goalkeeper for Wigan, has recently lost his place in goal. The Omani no 1 goalkeeper will not be playing against Team Melli but joining Oman team in Doha for their training camp.
Another significant absentee from Oman is Omad Al Hosani. The Alhi Jeddah player is currently injured and the medical team of Oman is working overtime to prepare him for the crucial match against Iraq in the FIF World Cup 2014 qualifiers.
Commenting on the match against Iran , Mohanna Al Adawi , Oman’s Assistant coach said “ Iran is one of the stronger teams in Asia which will be a good test for our upcoming crucial match against Iraq. This is an opportunity to experience the depth and strength of a strong opponent similar to Iraq. Both teams (Iraq and Iran) have players who are well built, strong in tackling, pace and base their attack on using the flanks.”
The friendly match will be played in Sultan Qaboos Sport Complex in Boshar, Muscat at 1700 Local time (1730 Tehran Time) .