Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Muscat: Juan Ramon Lopez Caro is under no illusions what his immediate targets are after being unveiled as Oman's new head coach on Friday.
The former Real Madrid boss, who was also in charge of Saudi Arabia from 2013 to 2014, was officially presented at the OFA's headquarters at the Seeb Sports Stadium and was given three targets by his new employers after penning a one-year deal.
The first key objective Lopez Caro has been tasked with is to win Oman's two remaining joint 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers against Guam and Iran, which would be enough to see his charges advance to the next stage.
The other main areas of focus include the next round of joint qualifiers, should Oman progress, as well as the Gulf Cup which is to be held later this year.
The OFA revealed that Lopez Caro had been chosen from a final shortlist of seven candidates, with the Spaniard insisting he is solely focused on delivering results for the duration of his current tenure.
“I am not looking beyond one year,” the Times of Oman quoted him as saying.
“I am confident we can achieve those goals. But from now on my focus is the next two matches. We need to respect our opponents. But we also need to be confident and work hard to achieve our target.
“I am very pleased to get this invitation from the OFA to coach the Omani national team. Now it’s my job to get the best out of the players,” he said.
“I would like to promise the Omani people that I will be hundred percent committed to the job entrusted to me by the association. I am committed to help the Omani team and football improve further."
OFA chairman Sayyid Khalid bin Hamad Al Busaidi believes they have chosen the right candidate to fill the void the position that has been vacant since they parted ways with Paul Le Guen last November.
He explained: “We looked into Lopez Caro coaching methods and his previous success as the coach. And all that matched our criteria. So the board decided to give him a one year contract.
"The first target is the next two games (World Cup/Asian Cup qualifiers against Guam and Iran)... which is to win those two games.”
Oman are currently second in Group D of qualification, three points behind Iran and one ahead of third-placed Turkmenistan.