Oman face UAE in crucial Asian qualifiers clash, Iraq meet Indonesia

Oman's only option will be victory when they face the UAE in their AFC Asian qualifiersRoad to 26 Playoffs Group A tie on Saturday.

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Carlos Queiroz’s side battled to a goalless draw with Qatar on Wednesday, giving them hope of a first qualification to the FIFA World Cup finals should they defeat UAE at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

The steely performance against Qatar, however, did come at a cost with the influential Jameel Al Yahmadi taken off in the 24th minute after a hefty challenge and is now confirmed to be out of contention for the UAE match.

Queiroz could opt to provide striker Issam Alsabhi more support up front with Oman only managing to score in six of their IO matches in the previous stage of the Qualifiers.

UAE head coach Cosmin Olaroiu would have picked up plenty of pointers from analysing Oman's encounter with Qatar.

The Romanian tactician is unbeaten in the three matches he has handled since taking over from Paulo Bento, a run that included vital results in the previous phase.

Olaroiu oversaw back-to-back draws with Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in the AFC Asian Qualifiers - Road to 26 Group A ties that secured their spot in the Playoffs.