Khalid Al Hajri’s goal two minutes from time on Tuesday evening secured Oman a 1-0 win over Palestine that guaranteed the Gulf Cup winners pole position in Group D as they leap-frogged their opponents in the standings due to a marginally better head-to-head record.
Both sides finished the qualifiers on 15 points from their six matches over the last 12 months – well clear of the Maldives and Bhutan – and the Dutchman is now looking forward to the draw for the Finals in Dubai on May 4.
“I don't think winning the group matters too much, although it’s nice to do it,” said the former Australia and Korea Republic coach. “To beat a team like Palestine is good because they are ahead of us in the FIFA Rankings, so that helps although it won’t make much difference when it comes to the AFC Asian Cup draw, I don’t think.
“We are going to be in Pot C or D and we are sure to have one or two of the strongest teams in our group. But that’s okay. After winning the Gulf Cup, winning our group was important and now we are waiting for May 4.”
Verbeek’s team were the top scorers in qualifying with 28 goals in six matches, although 18 of those came in two games against Bhutan, and the Oman coach was disappointed with his team’s performance against the Palestinians despite the win.
“They weren’t easy opponents but I felt we were in control throughout the game,” he said. “Palestine came for a point and we didn’t do as well as we could have done.
“We had something like 20 corners and 15 of them didn’t make it past the first post and some of our crossing wasn’t very good, which is unusual as that’s normally a good area for us.
“The fans were getting a little bit frustrated but in the end we won, we scored in the 88th minute and we won the group, so everyone is happy. We took the three points and we are number one in the group.”
With less than 10 months to go until the Finals kick off in the UAE, Verbeek is now focusing on continuing to galvanise his squad ahead of whatever challenges await them in Jannuary 2019.
“We are always looking for players and we have a good group now and there are others who have good potential,” he said. “Some of them won’t be ready to play in a big tournament like the Asian Cup, but things are going well.
“I’m happy with my selection and I know I can put out two good teams in training who are very well matched.”
Photos: AFP
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