Sport in Oman

Oman national team;

Oman national team coach Julio Cesar Ribas is grooming 12 young footballers in an attempt to strengthen the national squad for the future assignments. The Uruguayan, who travelled across the Sultanate to watch Oman Football Association (OFA) league matches over the past few days, has picked 12 players — three new faces and the rest from the youth side — to train them ahead of Oman's 2010 World Cup qualifying game against Thailand. "After watching the league matches in different venues, coach Ribas has chosen 12 players. Three of these players are in the national reckoning for the first time and the others have played in the youth teams. Coach Ribas is training these players with an aim to include some of them in the national squad," said OFA General Secretary Taha al Khisry during the weekly media briefing here yesterday. "Ribas will put these players through rigorous training sessions for a three-week period before deciding on including some of them in the national squad," he added.