He was not deemed good enough for Al Ahli, but the 31-time Bulgarian champions and two-time European Cup semi-finalists CSKA Sofia have chosen the Romanian Ioan Andone as their new head coach
Andone, 49, who was sacked by the Pro League champions six games into the season in November, signed an 18-month contract with the Bulgarian club, who last won the league in 2008.
"It's a big honour for me," Andone said. "I know a lot about CSKA, they're really a big club. We've talked about CSKA's goals and I agreed. Our main target will be to win the league title and play in the Champions League next season.
Luboslav Penev resigned as CSKA coach on Wednesday, after failing to offer a guarantee that he could take the club to the league title.
The CSKA chief executive Ventsislav Zhivkov warned on Thursday that his replacement would have to win the league and cup double or face the sack.
Meanwhile, Toninho Cerezo said that the result is more important than the performance after an injury-time winner from the Argentine striker Jose Sand secured a crucial 2-1 home win for Al Ain against Sharjah in the Pro League.
Sand scored his 11th league goal of the season two minutes into added time to seal all three points. The result kept Al Ain firmly in the title race. They stay in third place on 23 points, six behind the leaders Al Jazira.
"No game is won until the final whistle," said Cerezo. "We doubled our effort in the second half and were rewarded at the end."
Toufeeq Abdulrazaq fired an injury-time winner as Al Dhafra beat the champions Al Ahli 5-4 in a thriller last night.
@Email:apassel@thenational.ae
Favourite things
Luxury: Enjoys window shopping for high-end bags and jewellery
Discount: She works in luxury retail, but is careful about spending, waits for sales, festivals and only buys on discount
University: The only person in her family to go to college, Jiang secured a bachelor’s degree in business management in China
Masters: Studying part-time for a master’s degree in international business marketing in Dubai
Vacation: Heads back home to see family in China
Community work: Member of the Chinese Business Women’s Association of the UAE to encourage other women entrepreneurs
The specs: 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn
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Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The view from The National
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