Muscat: Oman are hoping to start their campaign with three points when the Group A qualifiers of the AFC Under-16 Championship begin at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Monday.

The Sultanate squad will take on Bahrain in the inaugural match from 5.30 pm while the second match of the evening will see Maldives taking on Lebanon at 8.30 pm.

Speaking at the mandatory match-eve press conference, Oman team coach Hamad Al Azzani said he cannot wait for the action to begin.

Hamad, who was in charge of Oman Olympic (Under-23) team that qualified for the Asian playoffs for 2012 London Olympics before senior national team’s French coach Paul Le Guen was handed the reins, said: “We are waiting for the action to begin after a lengthy training camps.”

Under Le Guen, Oman went on to win the Asian playoffs, involving Syria and Uzbekistan, but failed to clinch the London Games berth losing the final Asian-African playoff to Senegal in the English capital.

In the 2013 AFC U22 Championship finals, hosted by the Sultanate in January 2014, Oman, under another Frenchman Philippe Burle, failed to make it to knockout stages finishing third in four-team Group A.

This time around, the event, rechristened the AFC U23 Championship, serves as the qualifying competition for the 2016 Rio Olympics with three places up for grabs at the Asian championship.

But the Group A teams have to first assure themselves of a place in the Asian championship finals before thinking of the journey on the Road to Rio.

Only group winners and the five best second-placed teams from ten groups qualify for the 2016 AFC U23 Championship to be hosted in Qatar next year.

And if Hamad is to be believed, Oman are looking to start their campaign with full points.

“It is going to be a very important beginning against Bahrain for us. It will be a breakthrough match for the team,” he said.

“We will definitely be playing to win three points tomorrow,” Hamad added.

Bahrain’s coach Adrian Whitbread said his team are ready for the competition.

“All our players are completely ready for the competition. They are ready for the big teams in the group,” the Englishman said.

He also stressed that his team will also be playing to win all three points.

Later in the competition, the two regional rivals will have even tougher opponents in the form of AFC U22 title holders Iraq.

Iraqi coach Yahya Alwan, meanwhile, said he will try help his team achieve goods results.

“We had a good training camp in the UAE and the team has benefited from the camp,” he said.

The champions will begin their campaign against Lebanon on Wednesday when Maldives will be playing their second match against Bahrain.