AFC Asian Cup 2019: Oman captain Ali Al-Habsi ruled out the tournament
Oman
captain and former Premier League goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi has been ruled out of
the upcoming AFC Asian Cup tournament with injury, the Oman FA announced.
Al-Habsi,
36, has 120 caps to his name for the Oman national team and currently plays his
club football in Saudi Arabia for Al-Hilal. He used to ply his trade in England
with Wigan Athletic and then Reading.
The
announcement was tweeted out by the Oman FA’s official Twitter
Al-Habsi
himself reacted to the news, tweeting out a message to his teammates that
loosely translates into a show of faith in their abilities to achieve their
targets after enjoying what has been a successful year so far for the team.
Oman are
undefeated in 2018 and their head coach Pim Verbeek had earlier expressed his
confidence that they will be able to put forth a strong showing in the Asian
Cup, especially after coming off their Arabian Gulf Cup Title this year.
“It gives
confidence to the players, to the selection, not only the first XI but all the
players, that we can beat teams, good teams. We’re back at the front in the
Gulf and now the next step is to do that at the Asian level,” he had said.
Verbeek has
since called up 30 year old Faiz Al-Rushaidi who plays for Al-Ain as a
replacement to Al-Habsi, according to a tweet by the Oman FA.
