Al Ain have asked the club’s Under 21 manager Josko Spanjic to take charge of their upcoming meeting with bitter rivals Al Ahli as their search for a permanent manager continues.
The club confirmed to The National on Tuesday they were in talks with two potential candidates to replace Zlatko Dalic, who resigned from his post following Monday's 3-1 defeat to league leaders Al Jazira that left them seven points off the summit.
A club official confirmed contact had been made with the Uruguayan Jorge da Silva, once manager of Baniyas, and Al Nasr's former Serbian manager Ivan Jovanovic.
The match this Saturday at Ahli’s Rashid Stadium between the second and third placed teams is the highlight of Round 16 of the Arabian Gulf League fixtures, and the club confirmed Croatian Spanjic would be at the helm.
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Read more
■ Al Ain: Club in talks with 'two potential' replacements for Zlatko Dalic
■ Zlatko Dalic: 'Thanks for three great years'
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"We are in talks with a couple of coaches but still no agreement reached," an Al Ain official said when contacted by The National. "Until then, our U21 coach will be in charge. He knows the players well and we believe he can handle the situation we are in."
Al Ain have picked up just one point in the past three games, with Monday’s home defeat to Jazira prompting Dalic to resign immediately after the game.
Jazira travel to Sharjah in the early game Saturday looking to increase their lead over Ahli to nine points before their evening kick off.
Al Wahda will be severely depleted for their match against Al Dhafra on Thursday at the Al Nahyan Stadium as manager Javier Aguirre contends with suspensions to three key players.
Goalkeeper Rashed Ali (one match), Hungarian midfielder Balazs Dzsudzsak (four) and prolific Argentine striker Sebastian Tagliabue (two) all miss the game following their first-half dismissals in the 5-1 capitulation to Abu Dhabi rivals Jazira last week.
Sultan Al Ghaferi and Ahmed Rashed also serve one-match bans for accruing three yellow cards this season, and the Chilean midfielder Jorge Valdivia is still working his way back to full fitness following a long-term injury.
Aguirre though said he was confident those deputising could step up to the mark.
“We have many players who are performing well and they are in full readiness to seize this opportunity,” he said. “Of course, we’ll have to make a few adjustments and play to the strength we are left with. I’m still confident we can pull it off.
“After all this game provides opportunities to those vying for permanent spots in the line-up and I think that’s enough motivation.”
apassela@thenational.ae
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Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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