Sport

Cannavaro will be back for big game against Jazira

Had the President's Cup not intervened, Cannavaro would have missed a riveting home match with the Pro League table-toppers on Friday.

Paul Oberjuerge

September 22, 2010

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When Fabio Cannavaro, the former Italian international and 2060 Fifa World Player of the Year who plays for Al Ahli, was shown his third yellow card in three Pro League matches, he faced a mandatory one-game suspension. Fortuitously, for Cannavaro and Ahli, the captain was able to serve his suspension in perhaps the least daunting match the Dubai side will play this season - against Al Rams of Division One in the opening round of the President's Cup.

Had the national tournament not intervened, Cannavaro would have missed a riveting home match with Pro League table-topping Al Jazira on Friday. Now, he can play, having served his time while his teammates strolled past Al Rams 4-0 at Ajman on Monday. Cherie Mansfield, the marketing and communications manager for the Pro League, said that disciplinary actions "carry across both competitions". Which works out neatly for the Pro League. The league's best-known and most-expensive player (at Dh22.5 million per year) will be available to play in the Ahli defence against the visitors from Abu Dhabi.

Cannavaro, 37, may not have minded missing the Rams match in what amounted to an extra fixture for the country's teams. He was booked for remonstrating with the referee in the last seconds of a draw at Kalba. The Italian now has one yellow from each of his three matches in the Pro League: for a handball at Dhafra, for grabbing an attacking player's shirt versus Al Wasl and for dissent at Kalba. A similar scenario played out for Khalid Sabeel, Jazira's right-back. Sabeel picked up his third yellow against Al Wahda last weekend, and his suspension came during a 7-0 rout of Ras al Khaimah on Monday. He, too, ought to be well-rested for the Ahli-Jazira match.

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Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.

The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?

My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.

The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.

So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.

 

 

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