Damascus (AFP)
Veteran striker Omar Al-Somah returned to the Syrian national football team, which was called up by Argentine coach Hector Cuper for the matches between North Korea and Japan, in the fifth and sixth rounds of Group Two, in the second round of the joint Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup.
The Syrian Federation published the “Qasioun Eagles” squad, which includes twenty professional players outside the country, and will face North Korea on neutral ground in Laos and Japan in Hiroshima on June 6 and 11, and includes Al-Somah in its ranks.
Al-Somah, 35 years old, the all-time top scorer in the Saudi League and the current player with the Qatari Al-Arabi Club, was excluded from the squad that reached the 16th final of the last Asian Cup in Qatar when it lost to Iran on penalties.
Despite his apology and expression of his desire to return from retirement after his exclusion and criticism of the local federation of the game, Al-Somah’s name, “21 goals in 40 international matches,” was not mentioned in the last two rounds of the continental qualifiers.
The Syrian team, which has never participated in the World Cup in its history, will miss Ayham Owusu due to his failure to recover from his ankle injury, Muhammad Othman due to a surgical procedure that he will perform in Al Ain in early June based on a prior appointment, Noah Chamoun due to his failure to recover from his previous injury, and Omar Khribin, who submitted a written apology. Because of his special circumstances, according to what the local union explained.
Japan guaranteed its qualification to the third round and the Asian Cup, after winning four victories in the second group, while Syria came close to qualifying, as it had seven points from four matches, four more than North Korea, which was considered a 0-3 loser to Japan in its last match, when it canceled it five minutes ago. Days before its due date without explaining the reasons.
The lineup includes Ahmed Madaniyah, Esteban Jalil, Elias Hadiya, Maxim Sarraf, Emiliano Amor, Thaer Kroma, Omar Midani, Moayed Al-Khouly, Moayed Al-Ajan, Abdel-Rahman Wais, Amr Janiyat, Khalil Elias, Mohamed Anz, Ezaquiel Al-Amm, Fahd Al-Youssef, Elmar Abraham. , Ammar Ramadan, Mahmoud Al-Aswad, Daliho Erandst, Omar Al-Somah, Alaa Al-Dali, Tobias Al-Qadi, Ibrahim Hissar.
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