Last week, before the national team assembled for the trip to Tashkent for their final match of the 2015 Asian Cup qualifying, coach Mahdi Ali was asked again about the prospects of his side in Australia.
“We are currently No 5 in Asia and our goal is to be among the top four nations,” repeated the plain-speaking Emirati. “We must be realistic and not exaggerate on our ambitions because that could affect the players negatively.”
The Emirati fans, spurred by their best national team in more than a decade, will be perhaps expecting a bit more. Ranked No 58 in the world by Fifa and No 47 on the World Football Elo ratings, the team are unbeaten for 19 matches since losing 1-0 to Japan in September, 2012.
They have won the two tournaments they have participated in since: the 2013 Gulf Cup of Nations and the four-nation tournament in Saudi Arabia, where they beat Trinidad & Tobago and New Zealand in their two matches.
In the Asian Cup qualifying, the UAE were among the first – on November 15 as group toppers – to book their tickets for January's finale in Australia with comfortable wins in all five of their matches. If they beat Uzbekistan on Wednesday night they will finish eight points clear at the top.
So optimism is high, but as Mahdi Ali said, there is no need to exaggerate. A top-four finish is both realistic and achievable, and here are three reasons why:
The coach
Mahdi Ali is a man with the Midas touch.
Taking over the reins of the Under 19 side barely two weeks before the 2008 U19 Asian Championship, he led them to the title, winning every game.
The next year he took the same team to the quarter-finals of the Fifa Youth World Cup in Egypt.
Then came that magical night in Tashkent when the UAE Under 23 team beat Uzbekistan 3-2 to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. It was a first for the young nation but looked improbable after the team started their group campaign with two draws.
His success with the senior national team, then, is a natural progression. He has lost once in 20 matches and the results have not come by chance.
An engineer by profession, planning is Mahdi Ali’s forte. He is a stickler for details.
He is not too worried about irking the clubs by demanding the players for long camps, or annoying the media by refusing them access to speaking to players.
Hence the break in league action while the national team gathered well in advance of tomorrow’s games.
How international managers around the world, most of whom have their squad just 72 hours before games, would love the kind of time Mahdi Ali gets.
Band of brothers
A majority of the players in Mahdi Ali’s squad are in the 23-24 age group and have been playing together for more than a decade.
So trust and togetherness have been a big part of their success. There is plenty of quality as well, with the likes of Omar Abdulrahman, Amer Abdulrahman and Ahmed Khalil, even if the first two are absent in this squad.
Mahdi Ali has made sure no player feels indispensable or superior to the others.
He has repeatedly claimed all 22 players in his squad are equal and has proven that through his selections: despite the absence of the two Abdulrahmans through injury, Ismail Matar was not called for the trip to Uzbekistan.
Success breeds success
Mahdi Ali has used these words often and it is true. Not many teams in the international arena have gone unbeaten for 19 matches and every positive result has only served to strengthen the belief of the players.
Through the years, at the senior or youth levels, this group have beaten every team they are likely to meet in January – Iran, Australia, Iraq, North Korea, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, South Korea or Uzbekistan.
Confidence, then, will be on a high, whatever the opposition.
arizvi@thenational.ae
Follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Sri Lanka Test squad:
Dimuth Karunaratne (stand-in captain), Niroshan Dickwella (vice captain), Lahiru Thirimanne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Janith Perera, Milinda Siriwardana, Dhananjaya de Silva, Oshada Fernando, Angelo Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha, Vishwa Fernando, Chamika Karunaratne, Mohamed Shiraz, Lakshan Sandakan and Lasith Embuldeniya.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
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In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
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Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Mobile phone packages comparison
