Le Guen: Oman must believe

New Oman coach Paul Le Guen says he wants his team to dare to dream that they can qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Former Lyon, Rangers and PSG coach Le Guen took over as the Oman national team boss in June.

Oman won the 2009 Gulf Cup of Nations under Frenchman Claude Le Roy but failed to progress to the final round of 2010 World Cup qualifiers, while they also missed out on the 2011 Asian Cup.

However, Le Guen, who guided Cameroon to the 2010 World Cup finals, told fifa.com his new side needs to believe in the dream of qualification for the Brazil tournament in three years time.

“It’s not so much an aim or target, as a dream: we want to give everything we’ve got and qualify for the FIFA World Cup,” Le Guen said.

“We know that we’re not expected to make it to the finals, and that there are lots of sides better than ourselves, but I believe we have to dream: we have to try to achieve the unexpected.”

Le Guen, who has never coached in the Middle East before, also revealed he had been wooed to the job by Oman’s Football Association (OFA) president Sayyid Khalid Hamad Al-Busaidi.

“I met with the president of the OFA in London in February and then again in April, and we clicked,” Le Guen said.

“I had a number of options open to me, but I took my decision then.”

“It’s a new adventure and an opportunity for me to continue working with my friends, which is something that’s very important to me.”

Oman begin their 2014 World Cup qualification campaign at home to Myanmar on Saturday.