Zaher Al-Aghbari in an exclusive interview with the Gulf Cup Federation website: Wait for the Omani Red in a different appearance in the Asian Cup

>> With the first school championship, I won the title, and won the award for the best player, and I will not forget the Gulf championship with the youth team

>> The Omani team benefited a lot from the strong friction during the World Cup qualifiers, and we will appear in a different and advanced way in the Asian Cup

>> Al Hilal is the leader of Asia, and with the group of stars in the team, he can surpass Chelsea of England

One of the current stars of the Omani national team, a key number in the offensive midfield in the Croatian squad, Branko Ivankovic, is distinguished by perseverance and diligence, and possesses high technical capabilities supported by speed and boldness in his attacking tendency. He joined the national teams very early. He is the Omani star Zaher Al-Aghbari, who was on the site of the Arab Gulf Cup Federation, with whom he had this dialogue.

Q: When did the public know Zaher Al-Aghbari, and how did you start with football?

Like many of the Sultanate’s talents, my story with the ball began since childhood in the neighborhoods of Seeb, where there were football gatherings with the family during the weekends, and we had a family team called Sima Sky. I joined the junior stages at Al-Seeb Club, and progressed through it until I reached the first team. The same is true for the national teams.

Q: How did your relationship with the national teams begin?

The start came with the youth team, where I participated in a private school tournament and I was a student at Ahmed bin Majid School. We achieved the title, and won the award for the best player in the tournament. The final of the tournament was attended by French coach Claude Leroy and the director of the youth team Issam Al-Hatroshi, and I was selected for the youth team, I spent two years with them and I was promoted to the junior red with coach Yaqoub Al-Sabahi.

With the youth team, I achieved the title of the Arab Gulf Championship, and won the award for the best player in the tournament, and I consider this tournament the real start for me, and I owe the great credit to coach Rashid Jaber, who guaranteed me for the youth despite my few participations with the youth, and gave me great confidence, and later I ascended to the Olympic team with coach Hamad Al-Azani, who supported me greatly despite the age difference with the rest of the players.

Q: Who are the most important coaches in Zaher Al-Aghbari’s career?

I will not forget the merit of the great coaches Abdul Rahim Al-Hajari, Yaqoub Al-Sabahi, Rashid Jaber, Hamad Al-Azani, Saab Al-Dhamri, and Koman, who included me for the first time for the first team, then Branko Ivankovic, the current coach of Al-Ahmar.

Q: You trained under a national and a foreign leadership, what are the advantages of a national coach? What distinguishes a foreign coach?

The national coach knows well the character of the Omani player and what he needs, while the foreigner is distinguished by his cumulative training and technical experience, especially Branko Ivankovic, who has a training biography full of Asian and European experiences and achievements, and this certainly benefits us a lot as players.

Q: After you joined Al-Ahmar’s starting line-up, how has your personality changed on and off the field?

Of course, joining the national team and playing in the name of your country increases responsibility, and makes you always do your best without complacency, because you bear the name of your country, all eyes are directed towards you, in clubs, the club’s fans only ask you to win, but with the national team, the Omani public supports you and demands you to win, a really big responsibility Accordingly, there is no way to change my responsibility towards myself in order to be worthy of the support and appreciation of the Omani masses, who always aspire for more.

Q: What has a coach as great as Branko Ivankovic added to you?

He added a lot to me, with him I played essential, and my confidence increased, especially as we faced big teams and had strong frictions against teams such as Australia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, we benefited a lot from them, and I also benefited a lot from Branko on a personal level. I learned from him discipline, tactics, how to move on the field.

Q: How did you feel during the Arab Cup competitions while you were away from the national team? Were you in contact with the team? What is the most important advice you gave to your colleagues?

At the beginning, the tournament was distinct in terms of organization, worthy of being a mini World Cup, of course my feeling was not good, I wished to be among my colleagues, but I only had constant contact with them and motivating them, and they were in good faith in performance and appearance in an outstanding manner, and to ascend to the second round, we went out in front of a great team which is the Tunisian national team, and we had a strong match against them. All the players appeared in an honorable manner.

Q: Tell us about your current professional experience with the Iranian Miss Rafsanjan?

A good experience, compared to the first in my football career, I got to know a new league and certainly this will increase my experience in the future.

Q: What is the difference between the Omani and Iranian leagues?

The Iranian league differs from the Omani league in that it is more serious, more physical contact that reaches roughness.

Q: Do you still follow the Omani League? And how do you see the chance of Al-Seeb to keep the title after the departure of its stars?

Yes, I follow the Omani league, and the reason is especially, that I follow all its meetings, and it is able to maintain the title, although it was affected by the departure of most of the stars, but the difference between it and the leader is not great, and they are able to return and compensate in the second round, especially since the performance is good and will develop more with succession of matches.

Q: Do you follow the FIFA Club World Cup in the UAE? And from your point of view, is Al Hilal Saudi Arabia, the representative of the Gulf, able to cross Chelsea to the final?

Certainly, I follow the tournament. Al Hilal presented a strong match against Al Jazira, the champion of the Emirates, and achieved a broad victory. Of course, it is the leader of Asia and has stars who are able to present a distinguished confrontation against the European champion, as well as reach the final.

Q: After the dream of climbing to the World Cup has evaporated, what will you offer in the Asian Cup?

We went through difficult and strong tests in the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup, and they certainly contributed to our weight, which will appear on the development of our performance in the Asian Cup individually and collectively, we will appear strong and different.

Q: What is your next ambition?

Continuing the professional journey and playing in one of the European leagues, and continuing the influential bid with the Omani national team.