Ryan Babel out to ‘prove people wrong’ as former Liverpool forward targets ‘a lot of glory’ with Al Ain

AL AIN // Ryan Babel says his best is yet to come after the former Liverpool and Netherlands international winger completed his move to Al Ain.

Babel, 28, was introduced to the media at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Thursday night, having finalised his transfer from Kasimpasa, the Turkish Super Lig side. He agreed to a two-year contract, with an option to extend.

Babel, who rejected an approach from Besiktas in favour of Al Ain, is convinced he can become an integral part of the Arabian Gulf League champions, especially since he is entering what many consider to be a footballer’s peak years. His decision to spend those in the emergent UAE top flight has attracted criticism from outside the Emirates, but Babel says he has made the correct choice.

Asked if his best football possibly lies ahead, Babel said: “Definitely, definitely. I understand that a lot people in Europe are maybe sceptical about this move, but I’m a sensitive person, I choose based on my feeling and not what other people think. My feeling about Al Ain was very positive and if that wasn’t how I felt I would never have come here.

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“For me personally, this is a challenge to prove many people from Europe wrong, that there is an idea behind the UAE league. I’m now here for a couple of days, but already you have a lot of people, specifically from Holland, being negative about this move. They don’t understand. I hope during the season I can, through social media, share a lot of glory with this team so that people can see it’s not what they think.”

Since hearing of Al Ain’s interest last month, Babel has used the internet to study the league and his new employers. The forward, who can operate across the front line but is expected to start on the left, referenced Asamoah Gyan and Omar Abdulrahman as players he is looking forward to playing alongside. Babel has chosen the No 49 shirt, the same number with which he made his professional debut at Ajax in 2004.

“I’m very pleased to be here; it’s an honour to join this team,” Babel said. “These past few weeks I did my research about the league and the team and I was very, very impressed, especially with the images and the clips I saw from last season, in celebrating the championship and everything.

“Once again, I’m honoured to be here and hopefully I can also be part of the success with this team and at the end of the season lift another trophy.

“Seeing the playing style, I can already see myself fitting in and being successful. It was not only the playing style, but the whole environment — the stadium, I see they have a lot of fans — and that made it the perfect choice.”

After his original stint with Ajax, Babel moved to Liverpool in 2007 but struggled to maintain a regular first-team spot. In three-and-a-half years in England, he made 146 appearances – 81 as a substitute – scoring 22 goals. He then transferred to Hoffenheim in Germany before returning to Ajax for a year. In 2013, he signed for Kasimpasa. In two seasons in Istanbul, Babel scored 14 goals in 58 league matches.

He says that experience will allow him to settle quickly at Al Ain.

“It helped a lot that I had two seasons before in Turkey, which is also a very different league and culture,” Babel said. “In Europe, it’s very difficult to follow this league so you have to do your research. The team has quality, a lot of potential and a lot of players who play for their national team, so all those things tell me it likes to compete and is competing – they have proved it over the years. That made the choice easier for me.”

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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The lowdown

Rating: 4/5

Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press

Grand Slam Los Angeles results

Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos

Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

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Key recommendations

Fewer criminals put behind bars and more to serve sentences in the community, with short sentences scrapped and many inmates released earlier.
Greater use of curfews and exclusion zones to deliver tougher supervision than ever on criminals.
Explore wider powers for judges to punish offenders by blocking them from attending football matches, banning them from driving or travelling abroad through an expansion of ‘ancillary orders’.
More Intensive Supervision Courts to tackle the root causes of crime such as alcohol and drug abuse – forcing repeat offenders to take part in tough treatment programmes or face prison.

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62 photos of the graffiti across walls and buildings in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Ajman

Key findings of Jenkins report

Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."

THE LOWDOWN

Romeo Akbar Walter

Rating: 2/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Robby Grewal
Cast: John Abraham, Mouni Roy, Jackie Shroff and Sikandar Kher

ESSENTIALS

The flights

Etihad (etihad.com) flies from Abu Dhabi to Mykonos, with a flight change to its partner airline Olympic Air in Athens. Return flights cost from Dh4,105 per person, including taxes.

Where to stay

The modern-art-filled Ambassador hotel (myconianambassador.gr) is 15 minutes outside Mykonos Town on a hillside 500 metres from the Platis Gialos Beach, with a bus into town every 30 minutes (a taxi costs €15 [Dh66]). The Nammos and Scorpios beach clubs are a 10- to 20-minute walk (or water-taxi ride) away. All 70 rooms have a large balcony, many with a Jacuzzi, and of the 15 suites, five have a plunge pool. There’s also a private eight-bedroom villa. Double rooms cost from €240 (Dh1,063) including breakfast, out of season, and from €595 (Dh2,636) in July/August.

Yahya Al Ghassani's bio

Date of birth: April 18, 1998

Playing position: Winger

Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda

Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi

From: Dara

To: Team@

Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT

Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East

Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.

Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.

I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.

This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.

It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.

Uber on,

Dara