International football tournaments will toughen Oman players: Muscat academy coach

Muscat Football Academy's (MFA) opening day defeats at the Mundialito global youth football tournament will help his young players learn to bounce back, says Head Coach Chuck Martini.

MFA are one of 94 teams taking part in the Mundialito — Spanish for 'little World Cup' — and features youth teams from some of the world's best clubs. Although the Omani academy's under-9 and under-11 teams were looking forward to travelling to northeastern Spain, where the tournament is being held, Martini admitted his teams were facing an uphill climb after losing their opening matches.

While the under-9s were on the receiving end of a 7-0 defeat at the hands of Catalan club Atletico de Segre, MFA's under-11s lost their opener to the youth team of Gimnastic de Tarragona, whose senior side play in the Spanish Secunda Division, the second tier of Spain's domestic professional football league.

However, Martini — who has accumulated plenty of years of playing experience at English football clubs Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Wycombe Wanderers and AFC Wimbledon — says there is no time to dwell on defeats in tournaments such as this, and called on his team to bounce back.

"You have the best teams in the world coming here to play, so the competition is definitely going to be tough," said Martini. "You don't have this sort of competition and this variety of teams playing in Oman and the rest of the Middle East, so it is only when you come here that you realise the quality of teams in Europe and South America. I know today's defeat will not go down well with some of the team, but this is the reality of tournament football. If you make mistakes, you will be punished.

"I can understand that the boys are downcast — as they rightly should be — but this is only one game, and that is the most important thing," added the former Morocco international goalkeeper, who represented his nation at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the US. "The best thing to do for us now is to dig deep and show our qualities by bouncing back the next day."

"We are not here to win Mundialito, we know that we are not yet at that level," said Martini. "We are here so that our players learn to play under any condition because that will be what is required of these players if they turn professional in the future. This is a great experience for them because they are playing against players who will, ten years from now, play in the Champions League, and that is a story they will be able to tell their children."

Eleven-year-old Issa Haroun, who took his place in goal during the second half against Segre, admitted that the team needed to be more confident.

"I came in for the second half of the game when we were already I think about 3-0 down, and I did try to encourage my team mates and provide a performance that could lift our spirits," he said, speaking to Times of Oman. "I think we need to raise our heads when we are in such a situation and not let them drop. All we can do now is try and put in a good performance in our next games and fight for everyone. We win together and we lose together so we need to try and play better as a team."

Although the under-11s did show spirit by drawing 3-3 with Atletico Argentinos, they were handed a chastening 10-1 defeat at the hands of Catalan side FC St Pau Apostol, leaving them 4th in their five-team group.

"If you look at Europe and South America, the passion for football and the organisation is just a lot more," revealed Martini. "With all due respect, of course, if we were to compare the quality of football in Oman with that in say, Spain, Argentina or Mexico, then the results are clear. I am trying to toughen our boys up and you can only do that by experiencing such tournaments."