Friendly Preview: Republic of Ireland - V - Oman

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND

Post-EURO 2016, and following tomorrow night’s friendly international with Oman at the Aviva Stadium, the Republic of Ireland will be ‘post Robbie Keane.’

It will signal the end of an era, as the Irish captain retires from international football with tomorrow night set to be his 146^th and final appearance for the Boys in Green.

It has been some journey for the former Crumlin United schoolboy. Having made his senior international debut in March 1998 in Olomouc versus the Czech Republic, Keane has gone onto surpass Niall Quinn’s, then record haul of 21 goals, three times over.

Should the LA Galaxy captain fail to get on the scoresheet tomorrow evening, he will end his international career with a staggering 67 goals.

Shane Long is the most prolific current player, and he lags a whole 51 goals behind Keane in the scoring charts. Keane’s total may never be surpassed.

Martin O’Neill has stuck to his guns following the successful tournament in France where his side progressed to a last-16 meeting with the hosts and eventual finalists, France.

The Derry man named no uncapped players in his 28-man squad prior to the news that David Forde will remain with his club, Portsmouth FC, meaning that Dundalk’s Gary Rogers is in line to win his first international cap tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, Derby County defender Alex Pearce, AFC Bournemouth pair, Harry Arter and Marc Wilson along with Paul McShane (Reading) and Callum O’Dowda (Bristol City) have all been included by Martin O’Neill.

It appears that the game against the Omani’s is immaterial in a sense. One assumes that the Irish manager has his starting XI in mind for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Serbia on Monday.

Nonetheless, O’Neill spoke to the assembled media about the significance of the game in marking Robbie Keane’s testimonial.

O’Neill said: “Robbie has been a terrific player, certainly hard to replace. The only disappointment I would’ve had (is) that I didn’t have a 27-year-old Robbie Keane rather than a 33-year-old, at the time, I think he was.”

OMAN

Oman will visit the Aviva Stadium for the third time in six years tomorrow night looking to secure their maiden victory over Ireland.

The Omani international side first visited Dublin in 2012 losing the match 4-1, before succumbing a two-nil reversal 24-months ago.

Since their arrival in Ireland, Oman have faced SSE Airtricity League sides, Cork City and Limerick FC in friendly encounters in preparation for their match with the Irish team.

Both matches have ended in a draw with the Irish league sides taking the lead on both occasions before  Oman portrayed their battling qualities to battle back and secure parity.

Mohsin Al Khaldi, Saud Al Farsi and Omar Al Fazari have all scored for Juan Ramón López Caro’s side on their tour of Ireland to date, while Oman have also included former Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic goalkeeper, and Paul McShane’s current team mate at Reading, Ali Al-Habsi in the squad.

His 118-caps makes him only the second-most prolific cap holder in the squad with Ahmed Mubarak Al-Mahaijri leading the way with 133 appearances for his country.

Referee: Unknown.

MATCH STATS

Oman have never beaten Ireland in an international football match. Ireland won the two previous friendly encounters in 2012 and 2014.

Both of the previous encounters have taken place in September. The first of which was under the stewardship of Giovanni Trappatoni, while this will be Martin O’Neill’s second encounters against Oman as Ireland manager.

Ireland captain Robbie Keane will win his 146^th and final cap tomorrow evening, while Oman’s record cap holder is Fawzi Bashir, who amassed 143 international appearances.

BETTING

Republic of Ireland 2/7; Draw 4/1; Oman 9/1.

MATCH PREDICTION:

Republic of Ireland 3-0 Oman.

Republic of Ireland:

Injured: Seamus Coleman & James McCarthy.

Doubtful: None.

Suspended: None.

Oman:

Injured: Unknown.

Doubtful: Unknown.

Suspended: None.