THE WINDING ROAD
Ba, 29, joined Besiktas last September, from Chelsea, where he spent 18 months mostly on the margins of the first team, though contributed important goals there. Moving on to find fulfilment was nothing new. Turkey’s is his fifth different league, having begun his career in his native France, travelled to Belgium, and Mouscron, then won promotion from Germany’s second division to its top flight with Hoffenheim. His goals there led to his joining West Ham United. When they were relegated from the English Premier League, he switched to Newcastle United, and then Chelsea.
PERSEVERANCE PAYS
He had also known painful rejection as a young man. He undertook trials at Lyon and Auxerre, without success, and voyaged around England, where Barnsley, Watford and Gillingham invited him to train but offered no contract. In Germany, Stuttgart wanted him but he failed a medical. The same thing happened at Stoke.
WAR OF WORDS
Ba won his first cap for Senegal eight years ago, scoring on his debut. He has often been in competition with illustrious compatriots for a starting place in the national team, including his friend Moussa Sow, now of Fenerbahce, and former Newcastle team-mate Papiss Cisse. But he felt angry to be left out of plans for the current Africa Cup of Nations, and accused Senegal head coach, Alain Giresse, of acting “not like a manager but like someone’s puppet!” When Sow scored the winning goal against Ghana in their opening Nations Cup match, he devoted the strike to his absent friend Ba.
BESIKTAS BLITZ
Ba started his Besiktas career in style. A hat-trick against Feyenoord in August put the club into the Champions League play-offs, where they lost narrowly to Arsenal. His European goalcoring form continued in the Europa League, where he struck five in four group-phase matches. In the tussle for the league, where Besiktas are second, a point behind Fenerbahce, and ahead of Galatasaray only on goal difference, Ba has eight from 13 games. He will look to add to that tally while his friend Sow, Fenerbahce’s top marksman with six so far, is away.
sports@thenationa.ae
Monday's results
- UAE beat Bahrain by 51 runs
- Qatar beat Maldives by 44 runs
- Saudi Arabia beat Kuwait by seven wickets
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Boston%20Strangler
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Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Racecard:
6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah (PA) | Group 2 | US$55,000 (Dirt) | 1,600 metres
7.05pm: Meydan Sprint (TB) | Group 2 | $250,000 (Turf) | 1,000m
7.40pm: Firebreak Stakes | Group 3 | $200,000 (D) | 1,600m
8.15pm: Meydan Trophy | Conditions (TB) | $100,000 (T) | 1,900m
8.50pm: Balanchine | Group 2 (TB) | $250,000 (T) | 1,800m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) | $135,000 (D) | 1,200m
10pm: Handicap (TB) | $175,000 (T) | 2,410m.
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The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Company%C2%A0profile
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