MUSCAT — Oman’s Argentine coach Gabriel Calderon has promised an Eid gift for the Sultanate’s football fans with a big victory over Nepal in the preliminary qualifiers for the World Cup 2010 at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex tonight (9.30pm).

“This is my first match on home soil since I have taken over and I would like to begin with a win,” said a confident Calderon. “And that will be my Eid gift for the nation.”

Calderon was speaking on the eve of the match against south Asian minnows Nepal.

However, he pleaded ignorance of Nepal football, though he tried his best in vain to obtain some videos of his rivals.

“In modern day football no team can be taken lightly and I have warned my players to be cautious against complacency,” he said.

For Calderon it is a big match as this will be the first time he will be guiding the national side in an international on home soil. He indeed tried out his reserve strength in the friendly match against Maldives the other day but he doesn’t count that as the big one on home soil.

History might back Oman as much superior against Nepal but Calderon sounded a warning that they were playing against an unknown entity.

“Nepal is alien to us and we do not know how good they play or what style they adopt. We have to take it from scratch,” said Calderon. “But we are going into the match hoping that they would play similar to Maldives.”

Oman’s second stringers had beaten Maldives by a solitary goal.

“This is a very important match and we will have to win,” said Calderon adding that his team, though missing injured striker Badr Al Maimani, will go all out on the offensive.

“We will go in with an aim of scoring in the very first minute,” said Calderon, who, however, did not want to set a target on the margin of victory. “I do not want to spell out numbers, which means showing disrespect to the opposite side,” he explained.

“We will play for a good result,” he added.

On his probable line-up tonight, Calderon said he will play the best possible as all the professionals (except Badr) are available for the match. “I will blood two new players in the first 11 (names withheld),” he added.

Goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi is expected to reach early today and he is certain to play tonight. This was confirmed by the coach.

On his style of play, Calderon said there was no specific strategy and it all depended on the circumstances on the pitch. “Most probably it will be with three strikers in the front,” he hinted.

Calderon confirmed that his main focus was to enhance the fitness levels of the players as physical strength played a vital role in modern day soccer.

“Against Nepal, I have told my boys to be calm and not to get carried away even if goals come easily,” he said.

Meanwhile, Nepal coach Shyam Thapa was not available for his comments but appeared to be plotting a strategy to handle the much stronger hosts.

Most probably Nepal are going to deviate from their normal game and play a more defensive 4-2-3-1 formation. Nepal could be more happy if they managed to salvage a draw as they are to host Oman on October 28.

This match may prove to be the last for coach Shyam Thapa as German coach Thomas Flath is expected to take over on October 14.

Thapa, according to certain reports, is interested in handing over the job as early as possible because of his preference to the youth teams and also because he himself thinks Nepal need a good European coach to improve on the psychological front.

Bonanza for fans: The Oman Football Association has meanwhile announced a bonanza for football fans expecting them to turn up in large numbers.

Through a raffle draw, OFA are offering attractive prizes, including 10 air tickets to 10 destinations. The air tickets are for destinations like Bangkok, Mumbai, Cairo, Bahrain, etc.,…

The other lucky 10 will get a chance to open an account in Bank Sohar with a minimum balance of RO100.

Ten more will get Shell cards, each worth RO100 of petrol.

Oman: Ali Al Habsi (Bolton Wanderers, England), Suleiman Al Shukaili (Bahla), Mohammed Al Quwaidi (Muscat), Mohammed Rabee’a (Al Sadd, Qatar), Issam Fayil (Kazma, Kuwait), Mohammed Al Sheeba (Al Nahda), Ahmed Salim (Muscat), Khalifa Ayil (Al Sadd, Qatar), Mohammed Al Shamsi (Al Nahda), Mohammed Al Ghassani (Al Nahda), Ahmed Hadeed (Al Shamal Qatar), Younus Mubarak (Al Arouba), Ahmed ‘Kanu’ Mubarak (Al Sailiya, Qatar), Hussain Al Hadhri (Dhofar), Hassan Mudhaffar (Al Salmiya, Kuwait), Nabeel Ashoor (Al Nasr), Ahmed Mana’a (Dhofar), Fauzi Basheer (Al Gharaffa, Qatar), Mohammed Mubarak (Al Nasr), Imaad Al Hosni (Qatar), Younus Al Mushaifri (Kazma, Kuwait), Badr Mubarak al Maimani (Al Sailiya, Qatar) and Ismail Al Ajmi (Umm Al Salaal, Qatar).

Nepal: Goalkeepers — Bikash Malla and Ritesh Thapa. Defence — Rakesh Shrestha (captain), Anjan KC, Sagar Thapa, Chun Bahadur Gurung, Sanjeev Budathoki, Lok Bandhu Gurung and Sandeep Rai. Midfield — Tashi Chhiring Sherpa, Pradeep Maharjan, Bishaw Bairag Samal, Nabin Neupane, Raju Tamang (Babu), Rajesh Shahi, Bishan Gauchan. Strikers — Nirajan Rayamajhi, Anil Gurung, Jumanu Rai and Santosh Shahukhala.

Match commissioner: Toufik Sarhan (Syria).

Referees: Fareed Ali Mohammed Al Marzouqi, Eisa Ghuloum and Mohammed Al Mehairi (UAE) and Ala Abdul Kadir Nema (Iraq).