The Oman Football Association informed Croatian national team coach Branko Ivankovic of his unwillingness to renew his contract, following the disappointing exit from the group stage of the Asian Cup currently being held in Qatar.
The Omani team failed to reach the knockout 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 the Reds, wishing him success in his next career.”
Summary of the match Oman and Kyrgyzstan (1-1) | By tying with Kyrgyzstan… Oman loses its chance and Indonesia qualifies#Asia Cup | #AsiaCup2023 | #Kyrgyzstan_Oman#asiancup2023 pic.twitter.com/oxcTZX2orN
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 25, 2024
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 blow against what the ships 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.”
Croatian coach Ivankovic is not very popular in the Omani sports street, as he was appointed to his position as coach of Oman in 2020 as a replacement for Dutchman Irvin Koeman, then his contract was renewed in 2021 for two years, ending with the conclusion of the Asian Cup competitions in Qatar.
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.
