Goal.com's Asian Player of the Month for January Amad Al Hosni admits it's a shame Oman's World Cup qualifying fate is out of their control but hopeful they can still progress.
Oman are currently third on five points in Group D ahead of their final third round clash at home to fourth-placed Thailand (four points), while Saudi Arabia (six points) go to Australia.
Al Hosni's side will hope Saudi Arabia fail to win against the Socceroos while they must ensure they defeat the War Elephants to progress to the fourth and final round.
“It's a decisive game and a tough one for both teams," Al Hosni told Fifa.com. "The worst thing is that it’s out of our control and that we’ll have to keep a close eye on the result in the other game.”
Oman's qualifying campaign under Paul Le Guen started off poorly after they drew 0-0 at home with Saudi Arabia, before suffering a 3-0 loss away to Thailand.
Al Hosni admitted the latter defeat had been a blow for the side, who have recovered somewhat, following a shock 1-0 win over Australia.
“Things would have been different if we’d got a decent result in our first game against Thailand. That defeat demoralised us,” he said.
Al Hosni, who has been in stellar goalscoring form with Al Ahli in Saudi Arabia's Pro League, netted the winner in the victory over Australia and said he took great joy from that feat.
"That goal means a lot to me, especially as it came against a team like Australia and gave us a historic win,” he said.
“The strikers haven’t been getting much service and when they have they’ve not been able to put the ball away. All the same we’ll be doing all we can to qualify.”
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