The Omani team failed to reach the qualifying rounds after falling into a 1-1 draw against Kyrgyzstan in the third and final round of Group Six, ranking third with only two points from two draws and a loss.
The local federation of the game said in a statement on the “X” platform (formerly Twitter): “The Omani Football Association informs Croatian coach Branko Ivankovic that the federation does not want to renew with him at the end of the national team’s journey in the 2023 Asian Cup.”
He continued, “The Federation’s Board of Directors thanks the coach for the period he spent as coach of Al-Ahmar, wishing him success in his next career.”
For his part, Ivankovic (69 years old) said after the disappointing draw, “In the world of football, there is no easy or difficult match. It was intense. The players did well and gave what they had to do. We took the lead, but we committed grave mistakes.”
He continued, “At the present time, I cannot talk about the reasons for the loss and the shortcomings. Today, the players strived to win, but sometimes the winds go as the ships do not desire.”
He added, “If we want to analyze the previous two matches against Saudi Arabia and Thailand, we were always the better side, but luck was not on our side and the results were not in our favor.”
He concluded, “I do not want to talk about technical matters now. We showed good performance in all matches, and what was lacking was the translation of opportunities.”
Ivankovic, who was appointed as coach of Oman in 2020 as a replacement for Dutchman Irvin Koeman, then renewed his contract in 2021 for two years, ending with the conclusion of the Asian Cup in Qatar, was not very popular in the Omani sports street.
Criticism of the Croatian intensified after last November’s loss to Kyrgyzstan 0-1 in the joint qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup.
.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1)
