ABU DHABI // Al Wahda are set to unveil Australian international Dino Djulbic as the club's new overseas signing after the defender completed his medical at the club.
According to club sources, the 29-year-old Bosnian-born centre-back will be introduced once his paperwork is completed.
Djulbic replaces Mohammed Al Balushi, the Oman international, as the club's Asian player when the transfer window opens on Monday. The 6-foot-2 defender is expected to form an imposing rear-guard pairing with Hamdan Al Kamali, the stylish UAE defender, when the latter returns from Gulf Cup duty.
Wahda extended the loan period of Al Balushi in the summer by another year but he has not featured in a single game this season after picking up an injury in Oman's 2-1 win over Jordan in the 2014 World Cup qualifier in October.
When the formalities are complete, Djulbic will join the four-time UAE champions on a two-year contract from Guizhou Renhe, whom he helped finish fourth in the Chinese Super League this season, where his performances earned him a spot in the competition's all-star team.
He earned his first call-up to the Australia national team last month when he was named in Holger Osieck's 20-man squad for the East Asian Cup qualifiers in Hong Kong, winning his maiden cap in Australia's 9-0 thumping of Guam.
Djulbic will become Wahda's third signing of the winter transfer window after the Abu Dhabi club also snapped up Emirati players Adil Saqr of Kalba on a three-year deal and Abdulla Traoure of Al Ahli on a six-month loan.
Wahda have also confirmed the return of Eric Mouloungui, the Gabon international, who suffered an ankle injury during Wahda's pre-season training camp in Germany, for the second half of the season.
He will replace Marcelo Oliveira, the Brazilian forward from Sharjah, who was drafted as a cover.
"Eric has already started work with us," Branko Ivankovic, the Wahda coach, said. "We know his potential but at the same time we must understand that he has not played for a long time. So we can only wish he can deliver for us as quickly as possible."
The coach added he was happy with his foreign recruits so far, highlighting the impact of the Senegalese forward Papa Waigo.
"Papa Waigo is our leading scorer and I believe he can get better in the second half of the season," Ivankovic said. "Our main task this season was to rebuild this team for 2013/14 but that doesn't mean we don't have the ambitions to win a title or two."
Wahda have enjoyed a steady season so far and sit seventh in the Pro League at the halfway stage. They meet Al Nasr tonight in the Etisalat Cup, in which they are at the top of Group A, and meet Al Jazira in the last eight of the President's Cup next month.
apassela@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make
When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.
“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.
This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).
|
Age
|
$250 a month
|
$500 a month
|
$1,000 a month
|
|
25
|
$640,829
|
$1,281,657
|
$2,563,315
|
|
35
|
$303,219
|
$606,439
|
$1,212,877
|
|
45
|
$131,596
|
$263,191
|
$526,382
|
|
55
|
$44,351
|
$88,702
|
$177,403
|
RESULT
Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)
Kolkata win by 25 runs
Next match
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience
by David Gilmour
Allen Lane
