Hamad Khalifa Hamed Al-Azani commonly known as Hamad Al-Azani ( ar, حمد خليفة حامد العزاني; born 31 May 1973) is an

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and a former footballer who is currently the manager of

Oman national under-23 football team Oman national under-23 football team (also known as Oman Olympic, Oman U-23) represents Oman in international Association football, football competitions in the Olympic Games. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23 but the final t ...

Managerial career

He has had a successful managerial career in

with Al-Nahda Club,

Oman national football team The Oman national football team ( ar, منتخب عُمان لكرة القدم) represents Oman in men's international football and is controlled by the Oman Football Association. Although the team was officially founded in 1978, the squad was ...

and

Oman national team

On 1 March 2006,

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

ian manager

Srećko Juričić Srećko Juričić (born 30 December 1954) is a Croatian former professional association football, footballer, who is currently the sporting director for HNK Rijeka. Juričić has also had a career as a manager (association football), manager coac ...

was sacked by the

Oman Football Association The Oman Football Association ( ar, الاتحاد العُماني لكرة القدم) is the governing body of football in Oman. It was founded in 1978, has been a member of the Asian Football Confederation and of FIFA since 1980. History T ...

following the 1-0 loss of Oman against the hosts

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

. Following the sacking, the Oman Football Association appointed Hamad as the interim manager of the national team. In June 2008 after the sudden sacking of

Julio César Ribas Julio César Ribas Vlacovich (born January 8, 1957) is a Uruguayan association football manager and former footballer. He currently manages the Gibraltar national team. Career as manager Ribas was appointed the manager of Primera Division Uru ...

by the Oman Football Association, due to Oman's poor performance in

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (O ...

, Hamad was appointed as an interim manager of Oman national football team. He led Oman to an undefeated streak in the few months he managed the team. In July 2008, the Oman Football Association appointed Frenchman

Claude Le Roy Claude Le Roy (born 6 February 1948) is a French football manager and former player, who gained prominence at international level as coach to the Senegal and Ghana national teams. He was most recently the manager of the Togo national team. Ma ...

as the manager of the national team and as a result Hamad was appointed as the assistant manager.

Oman Olympic team

On 19 January 2011, he replaced the Frenchman Sébastien Migné as the manager of the Oman national under-23 football team. He was given the charge of leading the team in the Men's Asian Qualifiers of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. He led the team to a 7-2 aggregate win over

Tajikistan national under-23 football team , tg, Тоҷ) The Persian Lion ( fa, شیر پارسی, tg, шери порси) , Association = Tajikistan Football Federation , Confederation = AFC (Asia) , Coach = Aslidin Khabibuloev , Captain = K ...

in the preliminary round 1. In the preliminary round 2, Oman again put up a great performance against

China national under-23 football team The China national under-23 football team, also known as the China Olympic team (国奥队), represents the People's Republic of China in international football competitions in the Olympic Games, Asian Games, as well as any other under-23 interna ...

defeating them on an aggregate score of 4-1. In the preliminary round 3, Oman began their campaign with a 2-0 defeat to hosts

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. But then Oman bounced back and won back to back matches against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

2-0 and 3-0 (awarded) respectively. On 22 February 2012, Oman faced a 0-3 home loss against

South Korea national under-23 football team The South Korea national under-23 football team (; recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA, and Republic of Korea by IOC) represents South Korea at football in the Olympic Games and Asian Games. It was founded when the Olympic football was changed ...

and hence losing all the chances of finishing at the top of the group which would have earned them a direct spot at 2012 Summer Olympics for the first time. As a result of this loss, he was shown the door and the country’s London Olympics hopes were now in the hands of the national team coach

Paul Le Guen Paul Joseph Marie Le Guen (, ; born 1 March 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Ligue 2 club Le Havre. During his playing career, Le Guen played as a midfielder, and enjoyed a su ...

who was appointed as the manager for the

Playoff Round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

and also the AFC–CAF play-off.

Back to Oman national team

On 28 February 2007, the Oman Association Football sacked the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

football manager Milan Máčala as he failed to win the nation its first ever

Gulf Cup of Nations The Arabian Gulf Cup ( ar, كأس الخليج العربي, ''Kass Al-Khaleej Al-Arabi''), often referred to simply as the Gulf Cup, is a biennial football competition governed by the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation for its eight member nat ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

after losing 1-0 in the finals against the hosts United Arab Emirates. Hamad was once again appointed as the interim manager of the national team.

Back to Oman Olympic team

On 25 May 2014, he signed a two-years contract with the Oman Football Association to manage the Oman national under-23 football team once again after a two year hiatus. His immediate task was to prepare the team for the 2014 Under 23 Gulf Cup of Nations to be hosted from August 30 – September 9 in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

References

External links

Hamad Al-Azani - GOAL.comHamad Al-Azani - GOALZZ.comHamad Al-Azani - KOOORA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Azani, Hamad Living people 1973 births People from Al Ain Omani men's footballers Men's association football defenders Al-Nahda Club (Oman) players Omani football managers Oman Professional League managers Al-Nahda Club (Oman) managers Oman national football team managers