Al Ain embrace party atmosphere surrounding Manchester City friendly

AL AIN // Alex Brosque departed the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium clutching a few mementos from a souvenir night in the Garden City.

The Al Ain forward, given the first 30 minutes of his side's friendly with Manchester City, had been there on the pitch at the final whistle, collecting his medal and enjoying an impressive fireworks display.

Moments later, he skipped through the mixed zone with the shirt of Javi Garcia, City's £16 million (Dh98.7m) midfielder, and a few more entries in his iPhone's photo album. Pictures pocketed with Garcia, Alvaro Negredo and Samir Nasri – players who four days earlier were crowned English Premier League winners – Brosque said it was an experience to live long in the memory.

“It was great,” the Australian said. “In the end, with all the fireworks and the presentation and everything, that’s where you allow yourself to be able to enjoy it. It was pretty surreal, to be honest.

“For us, it was fantastic to play against Premier League opposition. The quality of players they put out tonight was something you’d never forget – just to be standing next to those boys is crazy.”

City eventually took the tie convincingly at 3-0, but for Brosque and his Al Ain teammates, this was an evening to enjoy the revelry. The club's new stadium officially inaugurated by the most welcome of guests, the match was played before a capacity crowd of 25,000.

“This stadium is brilliant,” Brosque said. “It’s a real football stadium, with a good atmosphere, and when it’s full like it was tonight, it just adds an extra 20 per cent to what’s happening out on the field.”

Taking it all in from the touchline, Zlatko Dalic, the Al Ain coach, cut a fairly contented figure at the finish, as well, despite his side’s defeat.

He had his work cut out, having to utilise a squad of 43 players, some from other Arabian Gulf League sides. Several of them he had never coached until Wednesday’s training session.

“It was a very nice party,” Dalic said. “A big day for my club. We enjoyed having Manchester City, being part of the Manchester City celebration.”

As a committed coach, there was time for a little instruction, as well.

“The players can see the shape of the Manchester City players, and it’s a great motivation for them to work on their fitness,” Dalic said. “Players must be strong in football and must look like City players.”

jmcauley@thenational.ae

Winners

Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)

Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)

TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski

Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)

Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea

Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona

Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)

Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)

Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)

Best National Team of the Year: Italy

Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello

Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)

Player Career Award: Ronaldinho

Film: In Syria
Dir: Philippe Van Leeuw
Starring: Hiam Abbass, Diamand Bo Abboud, Mohsen Abbas and Juliette Navis
Verdict: Four stars

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

Afghanistan Premier League - at a glance

Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Fixtures:

Tue, Oct 16, 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Kabul Zwanan; Wed, Oct 17, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Nangarhar Leopards; 8pm: Kandahar Knights v Paktia Panthers; Thu, Oct 18, 4pm: Balkh Legends v Kandahar Knights; 8pm: Kabul Zwanan v Paktia Panthers; Fri, Oct 19, 8pm: First semi-final; Sat, Oct 20, 8pm: Second semi-final; Sun, Oct 21, 8pm: final

Table:

1. Balkh Legends 6 5 1 10

2. Paktia Panthers 6 4 2 8

3. Kabul Zwanan 6 3 3 6

4. Nagarhar Leopards 7 2 5 4

5. Kandahar Knights 5 1 4 2

The biog

Fatima Al Darmaki is an Emirati widow with three children

She has received 46 certificates of appreciation and excellence throughout her career

She won the 'ideal mother' category at the Minister of Interior Awards for Excellence

Her favourite food is Harees, a slow-cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled wheat berries mixed with chicken

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

Election pledges on migration

CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"

SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"

How to wear a kandura

Dos

Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts

Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying