Catalin Raducan, the Al Ahli assistant coach, has rejected the notion that victory against Al Ain on Sunday will guarantee his side the Arabian Gulf League title.
Ahli travel to the UAE champions with a three-point lead at the top of the table, knowing a win would restore their advantage over second-placed Al Shabab.
They have also been boosted by the news that manager Cosmin Olaroiu will be allowed back in the dugout as he awaits a Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal against his six-month ban for violating his Al Ain contact last summer.
With six matches remaining after this week, six points may seem an insurmountable gap for the chasing pack, especially given Ahli have had only two defeats this season.
With testing encounters against Shabab and Al Jazira – the Abu Dhabi club sit third – to come, Raducan stressed that much work lies ahead and begins on Sunday against a struggling Al Ain at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.
“Al Ain have very skilful players, like Asamoah Gyan, who’s been the league’s top scorer the past two seasons, and Omar Abdulrahman, but we are ready to face them,” Raducan said.
“We are confident our performance will be what it should be, and that we can continue the good results from the previous games. But there are more matches to come, so the league has not yet been decided.
“Our philosophy is that every game is a final. It’s still too early to talk about the resolution of the league.”
Ahli have been so dominant this term that they not only look set for a first top-flight trophy in five years, but they contest the League Cup final and President's Cup final during the next few months, too. They also sit top of their group in the Asian Champions League.
It is a position familiar to Al Ain, whose midweek victory against Iran's Tractor Sazi also put them first in their group and went some way to lifting the gloom of a hugely disappointing domestic campaign.
The Garden City club are Ahli's opponents in the President's Cup final in May but, at present, Al Ain languish at eighth in the Arabian Gulf League. Zlatko Dalic, their recently installed coach, is seeking to confine those troubles to the past, including the tensions that have escalated between Al Ain and Ahli during the past 18 months.
“I have no comment on that,” he said. “My aim is clear: the match on Sunday is a rehearsal for the President’s Cup final and the upcoming Champions League matches.
“So the targets for this game are first to improve our league position and then to prepare the team for the Champions League match against Tractor in Iran in April.
“I know Al Ain and Al Ahli are big teams and have great players, so the match will be tough.”
That task will be even more difficult with Al Ain missing Mirel Radoi and Alex Brosque. Mohammed Fayez, the full-back, is also out, while Omar Abdulrahman is fit enough only to start as substitute.
Dalic, though, is confident he has the squad to cope.
“Any player in the team is qualified to defend Al Ain’s name on the pitch. I trust all of them,” he said. “They are all stars. The win in the previous match against Tractor will be a good motivation for the players. We’ll do our best in our own stadium to achieve the best result.”
jmcauley@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
In numbers
1,000 tonnes of waste collected daily:
- 800 tonnes converted into alternative fuel
- 150 tonnes to landfill
- 50 tonnes sold as scrap metal
800 tonnes of RDF replaces 500 tonnes of coal
Two conveyor lines treat more than 350,000 tonnes of waste per year
25 staff on site
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Company%20Profile
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Voices: How A Great Singer Can Change Your Life
Nick Coleman
Jonathan Cape
UAE SQUAD
UAE team
1. Chris Jones-Griffiths 2. Gio Fourie 3. Craig Nutt 4. Daniel Perry 5. Isaac Porter 6. Matt Mills 7. Hamish Anderson 8. Jaen Botes 9. Barry Dwyer 10. Luke Stevenson (captain) 11. Sean Carey 12. Andrew Powell 13. Saki Naisau 14. Thinus Steyn 15. Matt Richards
Replacements
16. Lukas Waddington 17. Murray Reason 18. Ahmed Moosa 19. Stephen Ferguson 20. Sean Stevens 21. Ed Armitage 22. Kini Natuna 23. Majid Al Balooshi
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Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
Notable cricketers and political careers
- India: Kirti Azad, Navjot Sidhu and Gautam Gambhir (rumoured)
- Pakistan: Imran Khan and Shahid Afridi (rumoured)
- Sri Lanka: Arjuna Ranatunga, Sanath Jayasuriya, Tillakaratne Dilshan (rumoured)
- Bangladesh (Mashrafe Mortaza)
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
