Al Hilal manager Jorge Jesus says his side are more concerned with winning trophies than breaking records, despite the opportunity to enter the history books in the Asian Champions League quarter-final second leg on Tuesday night.
The Riyadh side, record four-time Asian champions, take on fellow Saudi Arabian club Al Ittihad in Jeddah with a place in the last four at stake.
Hilal triumphed 2-0 in the first leg at home last week, with Aleksandar Mitrovic opening the scoring from the penalty spot and reigning Asian Footballer of the Year Salem Al Dawsari scoring minutes later to place his team in pole position to advance.
Hilal, who lead the Saudi Pro League by 12 points, defeated Al Riyadh 3-1 on Friday to claim a 27th successive victory and thus equal the world record for wins on the bounce. Welsh club The New Saints set the mark in the 2016/17 season, surpassing a 45-year record held previously by Ajax.
However, Jesus emphasised that Hilal are focused much more on adding to their already-stocked trophy cabinet, a quest that resumes with Tuesday night’s all-Saudi clash at King Abdullah Sports City.
“The win record is a secondary plan that has come about,” the Portuguese said. “If the record comes about, it is history for the players, the coach and the club.
“It’s a world record but it’s not a title; titles are the league, the [King’s Cup] and the Asian Champions League. It’s true that the more you win then the closer you are to achieving your objectives, and we welcome that.
“[Against Al Riyadh], we didn’t show a lot of freshness, but we showed sufficiency to achieve the target of winning the game. We are prepared for Ittihad in the Champions League.”
Hilal, runners-up in last year's competition, go into the Ittihad encounter not only with a healthy advantage, but with a number of their star players in fine form.
Mitrovic netted a penalty against Riyadh last week to take his league tally to 20 goals in 22 matches since joining last summer from Premier League side Fulham – second only to Al Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo. The Serbian international, 29, sits as joint-top scorer in the Champions League, with eight goals in nine appearances.
Mitrovic has been ably supported of late by midfielders Ruben Neves and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, and forward Malcom – like the former Newcastle United striker, the trio are in their debut campaign with Hilal – while Al Dawsari continues to prove a standout in both the domestic league and in Asia.
“Sergej and Ruben are among the players that have played the most minutes this season,” said Jesus regarding his decision to start both on the bench against Riyadh. “I felt that after the last game against Ittihad that they were a little bit tired.
“I tried to give them a little bit more rest by not starting against Riyadh, so that they can be more ready and fresh for the next game against Ittihad.
“They are fundamental players in the team and it’s important that we have them well recovered. It’s also important we can recover Salem for the next match. Every game we make three to four changes, and the weekend match was similar.
“Both Sergej and Ruben have big intensity when they are on the field. Against Al Riyadh, they were influential when they came on. Like Malcolm and Salem, we always want to keep them at their highest level of freshness.”
In contrast, Ittihad go into the second leg without instrumental midfielder N’Golo Kante. The 2018 World Cup winner is suspended after being sent off last week for a late tackle on Kalidou Koulibaly, another former Chelsea player.
Ittihad, Asian champions in 2004 and 2005, were already missing Karim Benzema, the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, through injury. The former Real Madrid forward is not expected to be available for Tuesday’s return fixture.
However, Ittihad manager Marcelo Gallardo said on Monday: “I am completely confident that in tomorrow's match we will be fully focused and avoid mistakes. In the last match, we lost our concentration within minutes and conceded two goals.
“Tomorrow we must be fully focused in order to turn around the tie. The key is good mental preparation and concentration in all positions.”
The Argentine added: “In football, anything is possible, especially when it comes to will and initiative and being the best from the beginning. But I promise the fans that the team will represent them well from the first minute until the last.”
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What you as a drone operator need to know
A permit and licence is required to fly a drone legally in Dubai.
Sanad Academy is the United Arab Emirate’s first RPA (Remotely Piloted Aircraft) training and certification specialists endorsed by the Dubai Civil Aviation authority.
It is responsible to train, test and certify drone operators and drones in UAE with DCAA Endorsement.
“We are teaching people how to fly in accordance with the laws of the UAE,” said Ahmad Al Hamadi, a trainer at Sanad.
“We can show how the aircraft work and how they are operated. They are relatively easy to use, but they need responsible pilots.
“Pilots have to be mature. They are given a map of where they can and can’t fly in the UAE and we make these points clear in the lectures we give.
“You cannot fly a drone without registration under any circumstances.”
Larger drones are harder to fly, and have a different response to location control. There are no brakes in the air, so the larger drones have more power.
The Sanad Academy has a designated area to fly off the Al Ain Road near Skydive Dubai to show pilots how to fly responsibly.
“As UAS technology becomes mainstream, it is important to build wider awareness on how to integrate it into commerce and our personal lives,” said Major General Abdulla Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief, Dubai Police.
“Operators must undergo proper training and certification to ensure safety and compliance.
“Dubai’s airspace will undoubtedly experience increased traffic as UAS innovations become commonplace, the Forum allows commercial users to learn of best practice applications to implement UAS safely and legally, while benefitting a whole range of industries.”
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Mohammed Al Attas
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue
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Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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May 9, v Malaysia
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May 13, v Malaysia
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May 18 and 19, semi-finals
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- 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
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
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