DOHA // Zlatko Dalic praised his Al Ain players for coming through a difficult night in Qatar on Tuesday as they booked their place in a first Asian Champions League final in 11 years.
The UAE side, the only Emirati club to be crowned continental champions, drew 2-2 in the semi-final second leg with El Jaish at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, winning the tie 5-3 on aggregate.
Al Ain were given a brief scare, even though captain Omar Abdulrahman opened the scoring in the 57th minute. However, a double from El Jaish striker Romarinho meant the hosts required only one more goal to force extra-time, but Mohammed Abdulrahman made safe the match for Al Ain in injury-time.
• Match report: Al Ain hold nerve against El Jaish to reach Asian Champions League final
Cheered on by an estimated 700 fans in Doha, Al Ain will now contest next month’s two-legged final against either Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors or FC Seoul, the two South Korean sides who meet on Wednesday.
Al Ain have enjoyed Champions League success before, winning the title in 2003, and were also defeated in the final two years later.
“Mabrouk to all the Al Ain fans and for the final,” Dalic said. “Hard luck to El Jaish, they fought until the last minute. I cannot be angry, but we lost some concentration and conceded some easy goals. We panicked and what happened is natural.
“One big point in my memory was that I’m with my team for more than 100 games. Only once did we lose by more than one goal, with the 3-0 semi-final loss at Al Hilal [in 2014]. I know my team always can do something. I was not afraid.
“Thankfully, we’ve reached the final. Now we have to be ready for this game as it won’t be easy for us. Another big team awaits us from South Korea. But tonight we will enjoy our success and tomorrow we will think about that game. It is so special for our fans.”
Sabri Lamouchi, the El Jaish manager, added: “First of all I want to congratulate my players. First, because they did a great, great job — we saw the small details in experience and quality. It was a great adventure in the AFC Champions League. Now I want to congratulate Al Ain and say good luck for the final. All the Gulf is behind you.”
[ jmcauley@thenational.ae ]
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: SmartCrowd
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Founder: Siddiq Farid and Musfique Ahmed
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech / PropTech
Initial investment: $650,000
Current number of staff: 35
Investment stage: Series A
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COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Silkhaus
Started: 2021
Founders: Aahan Bhojani and Ashmin Varma
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Property technology
Funding: $7.75 million
Investors: Nuwa Capital, VentureSouq, Nordstar, Global Founders Capital, Yuj Ventures and Whiteboard Capital
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
More from Neighbourhood Watch
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Engine: 6.5-litre V12
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Confirmed bouts (more to be added)
Cory Sandhagen v Umar Nurmagomedov
Nick Diaz v Vicente Luque
Michael Chiesa v Tony Ferguson
Deiveson Figueiredo v Marlon Vera
Mackenzie Dern v Loopy Godinez
Tickets for the August 3 Fight Night, held in partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi, went on sale earlier this month, through www.etihadarena.ae and www.ticketmaster.ae.
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
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B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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'O'
Author: Zeina Hashem Beck
Pages: 112
Publisher: Penguin Books
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Company: Growdash
Started: July 2022
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Based: Dubai, UAE
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Investors: Flat6Labs, Plus VC, Judah VC, TPN Investments and angel investors, including former Talabat chief executive Abdulhamid Alomar, and entrepreneur Zeid Husban
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Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
Name: Colm McLoughlin
Country: Galway, Ireland
Job: Executive vice chairman and chief executive of Dubai Duty Free
Favourite golf course: Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
Favourite part of Dubai: Palm Jumeirah
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
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The Old Slave and the Mastiff
Patrick Chamoiseau
Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale
UAE medallists at Asian Games 2023
Gold
Magomedomar Magomedomarov – Judo – Men’s +100kg
Khaled Al Shehi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -62kg
Faisal Al Ketbi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -85kg
Asma Al Hosani – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -52kg
Shamma Al Kalbani – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -63kg
Silver
Omar Al Marzooqi – Equestrian – Individual showjumping
Bishrelt Khorloodoi – Judo – Women’s -52kg
Khalid Al Blooshi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -62kg
Mohamed Al Suwaidi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -69kg
Balqees Abdulla – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -48kg
Bronze
Hawraa Alajmi – Karate – Women’s kumite -50kg
Ahmed Al Mansoori – Cycling – Men’s omnium
Abdullah Al Marri – Equestrian – Individual showjumping
Team UAE – Equestrian – Team showjumping
Dzhafar Kostoev – Judo – Men’s -100kg
Narmandakh Bayanmunkh – Judo – Men’s -66kg
Grigorian Aram – Judo – Men’s -90kg
Mahdi Al Awlaqi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -77kg
Saeed Al Kubaisi – Jiu-jitsu – Men’s -85kg
Shamsa Al Ameri – Jiu-jitsu – Women’s -57kg
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Engine 6.2L V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 420hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque 624Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km
