“We achieved the most important goal by securing full marks from two consecutive rounds, despite the challenges we faced against the Malaysian team, who delivered a strong performance,” said Al Muraiki, who scored twice in the third period to clinch the victory after Malaysia fought back after going 2-0 down. 

“We have great ambitions - first, to qualify for the World Cup Finals, and then to win the championship title with this team, which is a mix of experienced and young players."

"Reaching the World Cup Finals five times previously doubles the responsibility on our shoulders. We must live up to the expectations of Omani fans and continue securing victories in the tournament to go as far as possible, strengthening Oman’s reputation and status in this sport."

For Malaysia, it was another case of so near yet so far as for the second game running, head coach Mohd Saiful Noor saw his team fight valiantly but without rewards.

“We worked harder today than we did against Bahrain because we went into the match knowing that we had to win to stay in the tournament,” said Saiful.

“Just that in the third period, we were too desperate to get the goal and we tried to rush things, so that affected concentration and we allowed Oman to take the win. Against Vietnam, we will still try to get the win to at least finish in third spot.”

Venue: Jomtien Beach Arena (Pattaya)

Kick-off: Tuesday, 17:00 (UTC+7)

Venue: Jomtien Beach Arena (Pattaya)

Kick-off: Tuesday, 20:30 (UTC+7)