Abel Braga’s return to his old club Al Jazira was confirmed by the Abu Dhabi club on their Twitter account on Tuesday.
The Brazilian’s imminent arrival had been considered the Arabian Gulf League’s worst-kept secret. Braga will be on a two-season deal and replaces Eric Gerets, the Belgian who was dismissed with one year of his contract still left after a trophy-less season.
“Al Jazira Football Company announces the Brazilian manager Abel Braga has officially signed a contract to coach the first football team as replacement of the Belgian Eric Gerets,” tweeted the club.
“He will be presented to the media and the fans later at a press conference.”
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Braga is the most successful coach at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, concluding his three-year spell from 2008 to 2011 with a historic first league championship and President’s Cup title, in the 2010/11 season.
Ali Mabkhout, the UAE national and Jazira forward, was pleased Braga is returning to Abu Dhabi.
“He is a great a coach and I hope he can make good things for Jazira,” Mabkhout said after the UAE’s 1-0 victory over East Timor in Malaysia. “I know him very well. We worked very well together before and hopefully he will be successful again.
“He has a lot of charisma, is a strong man and is very good with the players. That’s very important.”
After his Jazira contract was up, Braga, 62, returned to his native Fluminense, leading them to third place in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A and qualification to the Copa Libertadores.
In the following year he led the club to the Serie A title and was awarded as the best coach of the league.
His tenure at Fluminense ended on a sour note after five consecutive defeats in 2013 Brazilian League that kept the club in relegation zone. Braga was dismissed.
He became the manager of Internacional, returning to the club seven years after winning the Copa Libertadores and the 2006 Fifa Club World Cup. He quit the job in December and was unemployed until his return to Jazira.
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Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
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What is cyberbullying?
Cyberbullying or online bullying could take many forms such as sending unkind or rude messages to someone, socially isolating people from groups, sharing embarrassing pictures of them, or spreading rumors about them.
Cyberbullying can take place on various platforms such as messages, on social media, on group chats, or games.
Parents should watch out for behavioural changes in their children.
When children are being bullied they they may be feel embarrassed and isolated, so parents should watch out for signs of signs of depression and anxiety
Huroob Ezterari
Director: Ahmed Moussa
Starring: Ahmed El Sakka, Amir Karara, Ghada Adel and Moustafa Mohammed
Three stars
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)
Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)
Saturday
Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)
Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)
Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Sunday
Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)
Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)
Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)
