From Al Ain to a fourth major international football tournament, with a World Cup runners-up finish and a third place, too, in between.
It represents a route so remarkable that it bears reminding.
Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic spent three years as Al Ain manager from 2014, guiding the UAE club back to the summit of domestic football – he won the President’s Cup in his first season, the UAE league title the next – and to within a penalty kick of clinching the 2016 Asian Champions League.
Little more than a year and a half later, Dalic was on the touchline in Moscow as Croatia fell 4-2 to France in the 2018 World Cup final. An underdog coach had led an underdog side to its best finish at a global finals.
In 2022, and with countryman Dalic still at the helm, a ceaseless Croatia finally ran out of legs in the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar, although they recharged enough to defeat Morocco in the play-off for third. Experiencing his first job in senior international football, Dalic had a World Cup bronze to go with the silver, and an already extraordinary CV had another out-of-the-ordinary entry.
Now, Dalic will bid to usher Croatia beyond the quarter-finals of a European Championship for the first time in the country’s history – they fell at the last-16 stage in the past two editions – beginning with progression from a Euro 2024 Group B in Germany that contains defending champions Italy, three-time winners Spain, and Albania. They kick off their campaign on Saturday, against Spain in Berlin.
If Croatia are often labelled perennial overachievers, then Dalic is the perfect man to plot their path. He arrived at Al Ain in January 2014 as a relative unknown after modest stints in Saudi Arabia with Al Faisaly and Al Hilal. Initially, and with Spaniard Quique Sanchez Flores in the dugout, Dalic was announced as the club’s new “technical supervisor”.
A few days later, Sanchez Flores was gone, with Dalic his successor. The ensuing three years as manager were considered a success, although Dalic rarely got significant credit. Al Ain, UAE champions in successive seasons before he was appointed, were expected to thrive – boasting some of the finest Emirati and foreign talent, they were set up to – while Dalic was deemed for the most part too passive on the touchline.
Yet that disposition disguised his tactical acumen and man management; most probably, the latter is a quality that has brought the best out of this Croatia side – even if, in Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic, a country of 3.8 million can showcase a midfield of elite expertise and experience.
Yet few would have anticipated Dalic would last this long. Indeed, he enters the Euros as the tournament's third-longest serving manager, while last year he extended his contract through until the 2026 World Cup. In Croatia, and testament to all he has achieved, he is hugely popular.
It marks an incredible turnaround in profile. When Dalic was installed in October 2017, nine-and-a-bit months after his Al Ain departure, he was far from first choice to replace Ante Cacic. At the time, he had two days to rescue Croatia’s World Cup qualification.
But that he did: Croatia defeated Ukraine to finish second in their group and advance to the play-offs. There, they saw off Greece across two legs and a place in Russia was theirs. Since, Dalic has never looked back.
Except, in another sense, he has. The Bosnia-born coach has continually credited Al Ain for where he is now.
“I learnt at Al Ain where every week I was under pressure, from the fans, from the club, from everyone," Dalic told The National upon his appointment with Croatia in October 2017. "I learnt everything the last three years at Al Ain. Al Ain helped me get to this point."
At the 2018 World Cup, the enduring affinity to the UAE remained clear.
“I get so many messages,” Dalic told The National. “I cannot reply to them all. But so much support from Croatia and from the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It really gives me the strength to achieve something with my team.
"So many from Al Ain, where I spent three years, and they helped me make my name. They gave me an important job, the experience, the support – money also, of course – but with them I built my reputation. I keep them forever in my heart. And I can feel them at my back.”
Now 57, Dalic has kept in touch with numerous friends and former colleagues in the Emirates. This next month, there are sure to be more messages of encouragement, or perhaps even congratulations, as the former defensive midfielder without an international cap attempts to mastermind another momentous major-tournament tilt.
In his own words “forever Ainawi”, the seeds of Dalic’s managerial bloom were really sown in the Garden City.
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Pay varies significantly depending on the school, its rating and the curriculum. Here's a rough guide as of January 2021:
- top end schools tend to pay Dh16,000-17,000 a month - plus a monthly housing allowance of up to Dh6,000. These tend to be British curriculum schools rated 'outstanding' or 'very good', followed by American schools
- average salary across curriculums and skill levels is about Dh10,000, recruiters say
- it is becoming more common for schools to provide accommodation, sometimes in an apartment block with other teachers, rather than hand teachers a cash housing allowance
- some strong performing schools have cut back on salaries since the pandemic began, sometimes offering Dh16,000 including the housing allowance, which reflects the slump in rental costs, and sheer demand for jobs
- maths and science teachers are most in demand and some schools will pay up to Dh3,000 more than other teachers in recognition of their technical skills
- at the other end of the market, teachers in some Indian schools, where fees are lower and competition among applicants is intense, can be paid as low as Dh3,000 per month
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1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
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It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
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Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
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