London // With one of the most remarkable Premier League seasons having come to an end on Sunday, here are 10 of the best quotes from a crazy campaign.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“I can’t describe it. I think someone must have put a spell on me to make it happen.”
– Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy drinks in his side’s fairytale title success
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“He hasn’t got a case. Just send him the video. They’re prehistoric comments and I don’t know what era he’s in. Three or four of my players don’t drink. Perhaps he meant Coca-Cola. It’s nonsense.”
– Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew takes exception to Sunderland counterpart Sam Allardyce’s prediction that the London side would not be competitive against Newcastle United because they would have “been on the pop” after reaching the FA Cup final
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Read more: Football year in review – Leicester highs, Chelsea lows, Barcelona success, failed predictions and more
Also see: Richard Jolly's Premier League team of the season: Who were the best at their positions?
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“It is unbelievable! We have driven around in circles. It is unbelievable that you cannot drive to where you need to be.”
– Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal, after traffic congestion meant kick-off in his team’s 3-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur was delayed by 30 minutes
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“I watched ‘The Simpsons Movie’ the other day and I saw Homer do it, and I thought it looked hilarious, so (I thought) I’ll do it if I score.”
– West Ham United's Michail Antonio reveals the inspiration behind his curious spinning-on-floor goal celebration after netting the winner in a 1-0 victory over Sunderland (scroll down for video clip)
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“We have to admire art and they have two or three players that transform normal life into art.”
– Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger hails Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar after his team were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“It is not in the books that somebody has to grab with the hair and pull from behind. Only in sex masochism, then it is allowed.”
– Van Gaal gets kinky in his attempt to defend Marouane Fellaini after his midfielder elbowed Robert Huth in response to the Leicester defender pulling the Belgian’s hair
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“From the beginning, when something was wrong, I said ‘Dilly-ding, dilly-dong, wake up!’ during training sessions.”
– Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri adds a new entry to England’s football lexicon as he explains how he focuses his players
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“I don’t want to describe myself. I’m a totally normal guy. I came from the Black Forest. I’m the Normal One.”
– Jurgen Klopp humbly introduces himself to Liverpool, echoing Jose Mourinho’s description of himself as a “Special One”
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“I feel my work is betrayed. I identified four movements where Leicester score a lot of their goals and in two of the four situations I identified, they scored their goals.”
– Mourinho takes a swipe at his underperforming Chelsea players after a 2-1 defeat at Leicester, which was to be the final match before his sacking
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
“It is important to finish the story like an American movie. Always in the end it is OK. There is a happy ending.”
– Ranieri closes in on glory with Leicester
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
Bob Marley: One Love
Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green
Starring: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton
Rating: 2/5
Federer's 19 grand slam titles
Australian Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Marat Safin; 2006 bt Marcos Baghdatis; 2007 bt Fernando Gonzalez; 2010 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Rafael Nadal
French Open (1 title) - 2009 bt Robin Soderling
Wimbledon (8 titles) - 2003 bt Mark Philippoussis; 2004 bt Andy Roddick; 2005 bt Andy Roddick; 2006 bt Rafael Nadal; 2007 bt Rafael Nadal; 2009 bt Andy Roddick; 2012 bt Andy Murray; 2017 bt Marin Cilic
US Open (5 titles) - 2004 bt Lleyton Hewitt; 2005 bt Andre Agassi; 2006 bt Andy Roddick; 2007 bt Novak Djokovic; 2008 bt Andy Murray
T20 World Cup Qualifier
October 18 – November 2
Opening fixtures
Friday, October 18
ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya
Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan
Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed
Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed
The view from The National
The Iron Claw
Director: Sean Durkin
Starring: Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson, Maura Tierney, Holt McCallany, Lily James
Rating: 4/5
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
MATCH INFO
Day 1 at Mount Maunganui
England 241-4
Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28
New Zealand
Yet to bat
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Sideup
Started: 2019
Founder: Waleed Rashed
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Industry: technology, e-commerce
Funds raised so far: $1.2 million
Investors: Launch Africa VC, 500 Global, Riyadh Angels, Alex Angels, Al Tuwaijri Fund and Saudi angel investor Faisal Al Abdulsalam
Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
More from Neighbourhood Watch
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
RESULTS
9pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
Winner: Mubhir Al Ain, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
9.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Exciting Days, Oscar Chavez, Doug Watson
10pm: Al Ain Cup – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Suny Du Loup, Marcelino Rodrigues, Hamad Al Marar
10.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m
Winner: Jafar Des Arnets, Oscar Chavez, Ahmed Al Mehairbi
11pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Taj Al Izz, Richard Mullen, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
11.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Majdy, Antonio Fresu, Jean de Roualle
12am: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner: Hamloola, Sam Hitchcott, Salem Al Ketbi
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 680hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 800Nm at 2,750-6,000rpm
Transmission: Rear-mounted eight-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 13.6L/100km
On sale: Orderbook open; deliveries start end of year
Price: From Dh970,000
COMPANY PROFILE
Company: Eco Way
Started: December 2023
Founder: Ivan Kroshnyi
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Electric vehicles
Investors: Bootstrapped with undisclosed funding. Looking to raise funds from outside
