Sharjah's Champions League campaign is over after their fourth and largest defeat in their first season in the competition.
Toni Oliveira's men suffered a humiliating 5-0 mauling away the Saudi club Al Shabab in their Group C encounter on Tuesday night.
Despite the comprehensive scoreline, Oliveira astonishingly complained that the scoreline did not reflect his team's performance, saying: "We have met a strong team and they have good players but I'm really satisfied with the performance of my players. We conceded easy goals from bad mistakes which we could have avoided."
The Portuguese coach admitted his small squad didn't harbour much hope as they travelled to Riyadh following a 3-1 home defeat to the same opponents a fortnight ago.
"We knew before the game that it would be very hard for us especially with the big difference between both teams. We have to play with the same players in two competitions, and under the circumstances, we have done pretty well."
Nassir al Shamrani fired a hat trick for Shabab with Abdulaziz Saran scoring the remaining two, and their coach Enzo Trossero was naturally delighted.
He said: "The game was hard but we had a good performance in the first half. I'm happy because the score was big and there were no problems or injuries for our side. Sharjah put in a good performance and they have good players but things just didn't go their way."
Shabab took their tally to 10 points to top the group, three ahead of the Iranian club Piroozi, who suffered a shock 5-1 defeat away to Al Gharafa of Qatar, who moved to within one point of the Iranians.
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South Africa squad
: Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen (wkt), Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Chris Morris, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Vernon Philander and Kagiso Rabada.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
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Salama bint Butti Street
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Day 3, Dubai Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Lahiru Gamage, the Sri Lanka pace bowler, has had to play a lot of cricket to earn a shot at the top level. The 29-year-old debutant first played a first-class game 11 years ago. His first Test wicket was one to savour, bowling Pakistan opener Shan Masood through the gate. It set the rot in motion for Pakistan’s batting.
Stat of the day – 73 Haris Sohail took 73 balls to hit a boundary. Which is a peculiar quirk, given the aggressive intent he showed from the off. Pakistan’s batsmen were implored to attack Rangana Herath after their implosion against his left-arm spin in Abu Dhabi. Haris did his best to oblige, smacking the second ball he faced for a huge straight six.
The verdict One year ago, when Pakistan played their first day-night Test at this ground, they held a 222-run lead over West Indies on first innings. The away side still pushed their hosts relatively close on the final night. With the opposite almost exactly the case this time around, Pakistan still have to hope they can salvage a win from somewhere.
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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MATCH INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)