FAI confirm date for Oman clash

September, then, is set to be a month of firsts for Ireland: a first 2014 World Cup qualifier, a first trip to Kazakhstan and first ever meeting with Oman.

The match with the Middle Eastern side, which will take place at Craven Cottage on September 11, was finally confirmed by the FAI yesterday.

Given the long journey to Kazakhstan comes four days before it, though, the key question then is what is to be gained by such an unfamiliar fixture beyond simply fulfilling a date? Well, for one, Oman are not a side to be sniffed at. They are exactly the kind of durable test that managers generally seek in such games.

They are currently 92nd in the world but a place above Bulgaria, nine ahead of Northern Ireland and 10 in front of a Macedonian team that gave Giovanni Trapattoni’s side a fair few problems in the Euro 2012 fixtures.

Oman are well under way in their own World Cup qualifiers too. And, although they lost 3-0 to a strong Japanese side in their first fixture, they still have a decent chance of making the second automatic qualification spot or the play-off place. Since that opening defeat, Oman have drawn with their two other main rivals — a 0-0 at home to Australia, a 1-1 away to Iraq — and are level on points with them behind the Japanese.

The fact they’ve only scored one goal in three games, however, speaks volumes for their style. That’s hardly surprising given the two most familiar names associated with the squad are a goalkeeper in Wigan’s Ali Al-Habsi and a manager who hasn’t exactly been averse to functional football in Paul Le Guen.

In that, this also might provide another different element for Trapattoni: against such a defensive side, it may be a rare match in which Ireland dominate possession.

Of course, in Ireland at least, the fixture will only increase the consciousness of Gulf football in the long build-up to Qatar 2022. Oman don’t have anywhere near the kind of money that the UAE and the Qataris have invested in the sport over the last few years, but they do have a much more deeply rooted football culture, which is partly down to a more agreeable climate.

In that, they should also provide a surprisingly agreeable fixture – if an awkward test.