We are waiting for Socceroos, says Le Roy- Despite missing a key player in the injured Ahmed Mubarak ‘Kanu’, Sultanate will be ready for the Australian challenge in the return leg of their Asian Cup qualifier to be played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex here on Saturday.

Revealing the squad for the crucial Group ‘B’ qualifier during a press briefing at the Oman Football Association (OFA) headquarters in Seeb yesterday, Oman’s French coach Claude le Roy said: “We are waiting for the Aussies. We respect them but we are not afraid of them. We respect their reputation, that’s why we want to play our best soccer and beat them.”

Both Australia and Oman are on same four points from three games but the former lead the group thanks to their solitary goal victory in Melbourne last month. Kuwait and Indonesia are the other teams in the group. Le Roy admitted that it is going to be a difficult game but ‘my boys’ have enough motivation to give their best and achieve a good result in front of their fans. “We all know it is a very crucial match and it is going to be very tough. We must play a very tough game to be able to beat the Aussies,” he said. “There is a great difference between the level of 14th ranked (Fifa world ranking) Australia and 74th ranked Oman. But that’s no way going to affect the performance of our boys.

I have a lot of confidence in my boys who are capable of defeating any team on their day,” added the Frenchman. “If we look back at the away game in Melbourne, I should say our boys performed admirably. Though I don’t like criticising referees, I should mention we were denied a penalty by the official. But that’s all part of the game,” Le Roy, who guided Oman to their maiden Gulf Cup title back in January, said. “Be it in the soccer arena or in life, I was never afraid of anything. I am happy to say this Oman team is also not afraid of anything. I am really proud to be associated with this team.

I am expecting them to show the same fearlessness on November 14 against Australia,” he said adding ‘Melbourne game was the best match of my 20 months with the Oman squad’. Le Roy, however, has a major concern as Oman will take on the Aussies sans ‘Kanu’ but the Frenchman is confident that the players he picked will deliver. He has picked three new players in the 24-man team that he announced yesterday — Yaqoob Abdulkarim and Mohammed Saleh al Musallami, both from Saham, and Ahmed Saleem of Muscat. The last mentioned being looked at as an ideal replacement for attacking midfielder Ahmed ‘Kanu’ but later it emerged that the Muscat player too joined the injury list.

Le Roy, who is likely to include another player in place of Ahmed Saleem today, said all the other players are fit and raring to go at the Aussies. “All the players are in good shape, including Hassan Mudhaffar (who picked injury during Melbourne trip). I had the opportunity to watch Ali al Habsi (with Bolton against Chelsea in the English League Cup), Imaad al Hosni (with Charleroi in Belgium league) and others who are playing with their respective clubs in the Gulf. They all had impressive performances and are positively looking forward for the match.”

BACKS HASSAN RABEE’A
Referring to criticism over striker Hassan Rabee’s inclusion, Le Roy said: “When I picked Hassan Rabee’a for the first time, every body said ‘why’. But he turned out to be one of the key players in our Gulf Cup triumph. “Now every one is saying Hassan and his club Majees are not at the top level. But let me tell you, he has been very good with the national team.” “It was the same with Ismail al Ajmi. During my initial days, a lot of people used to criticise Ismail. But all of that stopped now. In my opinion Ismail is a very intelligent player who has a fantastic technique, speed and temperament,” Le Roy said.

Asked about the ability of new players and the possibility of giving them a chance against Aussies, Le Roy said: “We have very good young as well as new players in Saad Suhail, Qasim Said, Ahmed Maneh and Yaqoob Abdulkarim. But obviously I am not going to reveal my playing eleven.” Though Le Roy will miss ‘Kanu’, he will have all other stars, including Ali al Habsi, captain Mohammed Rabee’a, Khalifa Ayil, Fauzi Basheer, Badr al Maimani and not to forget mercurial supersub Hashim Saleh, at his disposal.

MASSIVE RISK
Le Roy also stressed the need to focus on Australia and not to think too much on the friendly against Brazil, to be played on November 17. “I know it is a huge risk to play two big teams in four days. Everyone is talking about Brazil friendly. But we are not even thinking about the Brazil. For us it is the Australia match and the Asian Cup qualification that is more important. And our players know it. “We are not going to talk about Brazil until we are done with Australia match.”

OMAN TEAM: Mohammed Rabee’a (Al Saad, Qatar), Ali al Habsi (Bolton Wanderers, England), Mohammed Huwaidi (Muscat), Mohammed al Deeb (Oman), Khalifa Ayil (Al Ittifaq, Saudi Arabia), Mohammed Sheiba (Al Wasl, UAE), Saad Suhail (Al Arouba), Ahmed Saleem (Muscat), Ahmed Hadeed (Al Ittihad, Saudi Arabia), Fauzi Basheer (Bani Yas, UAE), Ismail al Ajmi (Al Kuwait, Kuwait), Imaad al Hosni (Charleroi, Belgium), Hassan Rabee’a (Majees), Badr al Maimani (Muscat), Hashim Saleh (Dhofar), Qasim Said (Al Nasr), Yaqoob Abdulkarim (Saham), Jabr al Awaisi (Seeb), Mansour al Naimi (Al Nahda), Ahmed Maneh al Noobi (Dhofar), Abdulrahman Saleh (Muscat), Hussan Mudhaffar (Al Wuhda, UAE), Hussain Ali (Dhofar), Mohammed Saleh al Musallami (Saham).