Football round-up: Mahdi Ali recalls four players for UAE’s World Cup 2018 qualifiers

In other football news, Anfield evacuated after 'incident' and Dwight Yorke is interested in becoming Aston Villa coach.

Dawood Ali, top, is one of four players recalled to Mahdi Ali’s UAE squad for their trip to Malaysia. Sarah Dea / The National

UAE

UAE coach Mahdi Ali has recalled forwards Dawood Ali and Mahmood Khamis, midfielder Amer Omar and defender Mohammed Fayez to his 24-player squad for their matches against East Timor and Malaysia in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. The squad will regroup on Sunday in Abu Dhabi to play a friendly against Turkmenistan on November 5 before they face East Timor on November 12. They leave for Kuala Lumpur the next day for their meeting with Malaysia on November 17. The six Al Ahli players in the squad will reunited with the team on November 8 after their Asian Champions League first leg final against the Chinese Super League leaders Guangzhou Evergrande on November 7.​

Chelsea

Uefa’s disciplinary commission said on Tuesday it has appointed an inspector to investigate racist behaviour at Chelsea’s Champions League clash in the Ukraine against Dynamo Kiev last week. “The Uefa Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body has decided to appoint a Uefa Ethics and disciplinary inspector to conduct an investigation with regard to the facts of the present proceedings,” a Uefa statement said. Following the Group G match that ended 0-0 in Kiev, Uefa charged Dynamo after a video emerged showing the club’s fans attacking four black men in the stadium.

Liverpool

Liverpool’s Anfield stadium was evacuated on Tuesday after an “incident”, the Premier League club said. Reports said that the evacuation call was made after two men who were taking part in a stadium tour went missing, which saw police called to the ground. “Our priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone at the ground. The emergency services are aware of the situation,” a Liverpool spokesperson said. Merseyside Police confirmed the search was on.

Roma

Roma will seek to succeed where both Fiorentina and Inter Milan have failed by entrenching themselves at the top of Serie A when they go in search of a fifth consecutive win at home to Udinese on Wednesday night. After a middling start, Roma have hit their stride but coach Rudi Garcia played down any premature talk of the club landing their first title since 2001 when Fabio Capello was in charge. “We can’t be favourites now just because we’re in first place. Not so long ago we were all rubbish,” Garcia said.

Aston Villa

Dwight Yorke has said he is interested in becoming the next Aston Villa manager after Tim Sherwood was sacked at the weekend. The Premier League club are reportedly in advanced talks with former Lyon manager Remi Garde and have also been linked in the media with a move for former Everton and Manchester United manager David Moyes. Yorke, who scored 97 goals for Villa, is keen to be considered for the job, despite having no experience of managing in the top flight. “There are young people ready to break into management and I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t put my name in the hat,” he told Talksport.

Hoffenheim

Bundesliga club Hoffenheim have surprisingly appointed 28-year-old Julian Nagelsmann, who has yet to pass his senior coaching exams, as their manager from next season, which will make him the youngest ever Bundesliga head coach. The club dismissed Markus Gisdol on Monday, appointing 61-year-old Bundesliga veteran Huub Stevens as his successor until the end of the campaign, with the Dutchman tasked with keeping struggling Hoffenheim up. “We know this is a courageous step but we see in him (Nagelsmann) such a huge coaching talent that we want to give him a prospect,” Hoffenheim sports director Alexander Rosen said.

Paderborn

Just two weeks into his first coaching job at second division Paderborn, former Germany international Stefan Effenberg is eyeing a German Cup giant-killing at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night. Effenberg, 47, nicknamed ‘the Tiger’, has had an immediate impact with two league wins to haul Paderborn away from the relegation places, but faces a big test after high-flying Dortmund hammered Bundesliga bottom side Augsburg 5-1 on Sunday. Nevertheless, Effenberg is not phased by taking his team to Dortmund following wins over lowly Eintracht Braunschweig and Union Berlin. “We’ll be ready. We also have weapons and we will use them,” said Effenberg, who won the last of his 35 caps in 1998, ahead of the German Cup second-round clash at Borussia’s Westfalenstadion.

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