World Cup 2022 Group B: Iran rocked by instability and division in ranks

Iran are entering their sixth World Cup with somewhat of a near home advantage with the tournament being held in the Middle East. Still, a last-minute manager change and a divided dressing room threaten to derail their chances of advancing out of the group stage for the first time.

Team Meli were one goal away from knocking out then reigning European champions Portugal from the 2018 World Cup and securing a place in the Round of 16 in Russia. But, if they are to cause an upset in Qatar, they will have to overcome the disorder in their own ranks.

A tumultuous summer behind the scenes has led to a dramatic change of leadership, with Carlos Queiroz returning as head coach under the appointment of Mehdi Taj, who was recently re-elected president of the Iranian Football Federation.

The former Real Madrid head coach is already the longest-serving manager in the country’s history, previously leading Iran to the 2014 and 2018 World Cups in his previous eight-year spell. Yet, his appointment comes off the back of a failed campaign with Egypt, where the Pharaohs failed to qualify for the World Cup and lost the final of the Africa Cup of Nations.

The Portuguese manager takes over from Dragan Skocic, who suffered just two defeats in 18 games at the helm, and his departure may have a lasting impact on the squad, as his previous sacking and reinstatement in August caused major division between senior players.

Queiroz will be hoping that there is no bad blood between the strike partnership of Bayer Leverkusen’s Sardar Azmoun, nicknamed 'The Iranian Messi', and Mehdi Taremi of Porto, who scored the sensational bicycle kick against Chelsea in the Champions League that won goal of the tournament in 2021.

The duo will be central to any success for the Iranians, despite publicly coming to blows on social media following uncertainty surrounding the future of their Croatian manager back in August.

This build-up has similarities to that of the 1998 World Cup, which is also the last time Iran faced the USA in the group stages. They appointed three different managers before a politically charged meeting with the Americans, which they won 2-1 to secure their first-ever World Cup victory. The encore promises to be just as memorable, with the two sides coming together again in the last game of the group stages.

Fixtures: Nov 21 - England v Iran; Nov 25 - Wales v Iran; Nov 29 - Iran v USA

Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten

Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.

Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

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PROFILE OF INVYGO

Started: 2018

Founders: Eslam Hussein and Pulkit Ganjoo

Based: Dubai

Sector: Transport

Size: 9 employees

Investment: $1,275,000

Investors: Class 5 Global, Equitrust, Gulf Islamic Investments, Kairos K50 and William Zeqiri

Wicked: For Good

Director: Jon M Chu

Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater

Rating: 4/5

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour Calendar 2018/19

July 29: OTA Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan

Sep 22-23: LA Convention Centre in Los Angeles, US

Nov 16-18: Carioca Arena Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Feb 7-9: Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Mar 9-10: Copper Box Arena in London, UK