Aymen Hussein scored in the 13th minute as Iraq edged Oman 1-0 in their AFC Asian Qualifiers™ – Road to 26 Group B tie, with Casas’ side looking to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for just the second time in the nation’s history.

“The most important thing is the three points. In general the first match is always not easy, and we saw teams like Australia, Qatar and Korea Republic suffer,” said Casas.

“We did not have much possession of the ball and the physical factor was the reason for that. In any case, these are just three points from one match, and we have nine matches remaining and we have to think about each one separately.”

Up next are Kuwait on Tuesday with Casas having to contend with the possibility of playing their West Asian rivals without goalscorer Hussein, who was injured against Oman.

“We have four days left before the match against Kuwait, and they are not enough to help the players with the physical factor but we have 26 players, we have alternatives to compensate for those who are exhausted.

“We do not have details about Ayman Hussein’s injury as he was transferred directly to the hospital after the end of the match.”

Oman head coach Jaroslav Silhavy felt his side had deserved something from the match.

“The match could have ended with a better result than a loss, and the Iraqi team snatched the victory by exploiting a corner kick,” said Silhavy, whose side meet Korea Republic on Tuesday.

“Our players were able to regain their composure after falling behind but were unable to score. This loss does not end our campaign and we will work hard to keep our hopes alive.”