AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup - Al Raimi sets ultimate glory target for Oman

Pattaya: Mussallam Al Raimi is confident that Oman are on the right track to reclaim the AFC Beach Soccer Asian Cup™ title after defeating Bahrain 5-1 in their final Thailand 2025 Group D tie on Tuesday.

Making a busy man out of Bahrain’s goalkeeper Ahmed Abdulrasool with repeated charges throughout the match before finally getting his name on the scoresheet, the striker is certain that the confidence of remaining unbeaten in the group stage will boost team morale as they seek to reclaim the trophy they won a decade ago.

#ACBeachSoccer | Group D : Oman 5 - 1 Bahrain

“A perfect record in the group stage is confirmation that we are doing things the right way. This will push us to go as far as we can in the competition,” said Mussallam.

As the 2015 champions prepare to take on the United Arab Emirates in the quarter-finals on Thursday, the striker is wary of the threats posed by the Victor Barros-led side but has unwavering faith in his teammates’ abilities.

“Our main ambition is to win the tournament, but we must first focus on the match against the UAE in the quarter-finals,” he continued.

“I expect it to be intensely competitive. The UAE are a strong team, and we have a lot of respect for their capabilities, but we are also a good side and have strengths that we can rely on to emerge victorious.”

Bahrain’s Husain Aldoseri, who scored his side’s solitary goal against Oman, remained unfazed by the defeat, assuring that with a berth in the last eight already confirmed, the inaugural champions opted to conserve energy for the quarter-finals.

“We didn’t want to exhaust ourselves ahead of the quarter-finals, so we played in a guarded fashion,” said the number 10. “However, we did not expect to lose by such a wide margin, nor to lose against Vietnam in the previous game.

“We are up against (Islamic Republic of) Iran next, who are the perennial favourites. We hope to put up a good fight and advance to the semi-finals.”

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