This time last year Oman were basking in the glory of a Gulf Cup triumph – and their Dutch tactician Pim Verbeek insists his side have every reason to feel good about themselves once again.

The Omanis penned one of football’s stories of the year in 2018, beating Arab heavyweights Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the way to their second-ever triumph in the tournament.

The rest of the year was rather productive as well, going the entirety unbeaten in friendly match-ups with strong teams such as Ecuador and Syria before coming undone against the Aussies.

That 5-0 defeat, their last match before the tournament’s kick-off, will have stuck in the side’s craw but Verbeek is adamant there will be no repeat should they come up against the Asian Cup holders here.

“We had a good run in our build-up ahead of this tournament, we won plenty of friendlies but when you face a team like Australia, they are a completely different team than what we are accustomed to,” said Verbeek, who also coached the Socceroos between 2007-10.

“We were not used to them and we made individual mistakes in that match. It was a hard evening for the boys but at the end of the day, we can learn from our mistakes and improve.”

There could be a trick up the sleeve of Verbeek’s opposite number, Hector Cuper, the former Valencia and Inter Milan boss who coached Egypt at last year’s World Cup.

The Argentine is now employed by Uzbekistan, who narrowly missed out on qualification to the 2018 showpiece.

The Asian Cup may have come slightly too early – their youth team won the AFC Under-23 Championship last year – but Cuper is hoping his side’s unconventional build-up will pay off straight away in Sharjah.

“Our team had good preparation leading up to the tournament, especially our centralised camps which included high-intensity trainings. We didn’t only focus on Oman but also the tournament as a whole and I’m satisfied with how everything went,” said Cuper, whose side will also face Japan and Turkmenistan in Group F.

“I’m not worried that we didn’t not play any friendlies before the tournament. I made that decision for a valid reason. Sometimes players can pick up unnecessary injuries, so I didn’t want to expose my players to that kind of risk.”