Bert van Marwijk is confident the UAE can kick-start their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign with a positive result in an albeit testing opener against Malaysia, with the national team boosted by Omar Abdulrahman declaring himself fit for selection.
Appointed in March, Van Marwijk takes charge of the side in a first competitive fixture when they meet Malaysia at the Bukit Jalil Nation Stadium on Tuesday, as the road to Qatar 2022 begins in earnest.
Malaysia opened their campaign last Thursday with a 3-2 victory secured in injury time in Indonesia. Only the top team in Group G, which also contains Thailand and Vietnam, are guaranteed to progress to the third stage of qualification.
The UAE have spent the past two weeks preparing for the match, first during a camp in Bahrain before moving last week to Malaysia.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Van Marwijk said he is happy with the time spent getting to know better the players.
“I like it, but maybe you have to ask the players if they like it,” the Dutchman said. “I don’t know the team very long: we had a training camp in July in Austria, not with the same squad - a lot of players, but not the same. So the last two weeks we were really working together.
“Everything is new. I am new for them and the other way around. But we worked very well and I like to work with them. You have to ask them if they have the same idea.”
Van Marwijk replaced Alberto Zaccheroni following the UAE’s disappointing exit from the Asian Cup, on home soil in January, at the semi-final stage. The former Netherlands manager has been charged with guiding the national team to a first World Cup since the country’s only appearance in 1990.
He led Saudi Arabia to the finals last summer, although left his post before the tournament, going on to manage Australia in Russia.
“When you are the coach of a national team the biggest problem is always that you don’t have the time to work together with your team,” Van Marwijk said. “It’s not the same as your club.
“Now we have worked together for two weeks, so I’m very happy. We don’t have more time, but for me this is enough to prepare for this game. We did the maximum for this game.”
Asked about the threat posed by Malaysia, Van Marwijk said: “They have confidence. We have analysed them very well; we were also in Indonesia. They put a lot of energy into the game and they play at a very high tempo. They have very technical, fast players.
“We have to be very concentrated and have patience. We must have a lot of discipline. I’ve worked with [the players] for a few weeks and I’m also confident in my own team. But it will not be easy.”
The last time the two met in qualifying was in 2015, when the UAE won 10-0 in Abu Dhabi. Van Marwijk, though, believes that will have no bearing on Tuesday.
“Everything that happened before doesn’t count,” he said. “I didn’t think about it for one second.”
The UAE have been buoyed by Omar Abdulrahman’s apparent return to fitness. The playmaker, the 2016 Asian Player of the Year, has not played competitively since last October, when he sustained a serious knee injury while playing for Al Hilal.
Now with Al Jazira, Abdulrahman returned to the UAE squad in Bahrain, featuring for the final 20 minutes in the 5-1 victory against Sri Lanka.
“I’m ready - whenever the coach needs me to be in the game I will be there,” he said. “I’ve played already a friendly game in Bahrain. I hope we’re going to we get the three points. We - the players, the technical staff and administration staff - all know exactly the importance of this phase of qualifiers.”
About Van Marwijk, Abdulrahman said: “The coach is already known to everybody. We played against him in a previous phase, when we played Saudi Arabia. Now he’s focusing on young players, good players, from the lower generations, which is something good.
“We have to take all these qualifiers step-by-step, not only the whole phase, but to focus on the Malaysia game first. This is the most important for us.”
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
3,000 technicians
10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers
New sound technology, named 4D SRL
AIR
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MATCH INFO
Champions League last 16, first leg
Tottenham v RB Leipzig, Wednesday, midnight (UAE)
Chef Nobu's advice for eating sushi
“One mistake people always make is adding extra wasabi. There is no need for this, because it should already be there between the rice and the fish.
“When eating nigiri, you must dip the fish – not the rice – in soy sauce, otherwise the rice will collapse. Also, don’t use too much soy sauce or it will make you thirsty. For sushi rolls, dip a little of the rice-covered roll lightly in soy sauce and eat in one bite.
“Chopsticks are acceptable, but really, I recommend using your fingers for sushi. Do use chopsticks for sashimi, though.
“The ginger should be eaten separately as a palette cleanser and used to clear the mouth when switching between different pieces of fish.”
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
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Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
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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
City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
