The new national football coach will be picked from three shortlisted candidates, the Oman Football Association (OFA) said on Sunday.  

The statement read, ‘The Board of Directors of OFA, held a meeting today [Sunday] evening, chaired by the chairman, Sheikh Salim al Wahaibi, and in the presence of members of the board to discuss choosing a coach for the senior national team. During the meeting, the recommendations of the technical committee to select the coach and the technical staff of the team were discussed. The coach will be selected at the next meeting.’ 

OFA had sacked the national team coach on December 15, Erwin Koeman, following the Red Warriors’ early exit in the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup in Qatar. 

During the past ten months of his tenure, Koeman led Oman in 12 matches and the team  suffered only two defeats under his reign, but the early exit at the Gulf Cup proved to be his  undoing. Keoman had steered Oman to second place in Group E of the ongoing joint 2022  FIFA World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers with only World Cup hosts Qatar ahead by a point (13) after five games in the five-team pool.