Milos Milojevic says the rest of Gulf football risks being left behind by Saudi Arabia’s extraordinary spending.
The Al Wasl manager saw his side soundly beaten 4-0 by an Al Nassr team that had a forward line of Cristiano Ronaldo, Sadio Mane and Jhon Duran on Monday night.
He thinks it is still possible to compete with Saudi’s star-laden sides in the AFC Champions League, but that others need to perform at “130 per cent” of their potential to stand a chance.
“I would like to be positive and say we can compete, and I think we can,” said Milojevic, who led Wasl to the UAE double last season.
“[But to do so] we have to be on 120 or 130 per cent. It is known in football that, according to research, the team that spends the most in the top 10 leagues in Europe wins 93 per cent of the time. So over 10 years, they will win 9.3 times.
“So obviously, the investment Saudi is making in football is either going to crush the other Gulf countries, or push them to invest.
“We will see the reaction. I think everyone has the right to do whatever they can in their country, and the only thing I can control is on the pitch.
“Today, we didn’t perform good enough on the pitch, so I won’t go into those things. The quality they have in unquestionable, but I still think we could do a bit better. We need more players who are close to their max and over their max.”
Monday night’s game at the Al Awwal Stadium in Riyadh was a graphic illustration of the fact the Saudi sides are shopping in different markets to the everyone else in Asia.
The Nassr forward line of Duran, Mane and Ronaldo have recent pedigree of playing in Europe’s top leagues. Duran, 21, was making his debut after arriving straight from the Premier League with Aston Villa, in a deal reportedly worth nearly €77 million.
Wasl also had a new signing of their own up front. Joao Pedro is a 31-year-old who arrived during the transfer window on a short-term deal from Al Taawoun in the Saudi Pro League.
While Duran made a number of openings for his new team, Pedro scarcely made an impact. Although that was hardly his fault, seeing as the home team dominated the ball.
“It was not a game that suits him really well because his biggest quality is in the box,” Milojevic said.
“We were not producing many chances inside the box. He had two situations where he tried to finish the attack, but I am not unhappy with him.
“I don’t blame any individual player because it is not an individual sport. We didn’t do enough to get a positive result.”
The standings provide the most obvious evidence of Saudi’s dominance. With Al Hilal still to play their penultimate fixture of the group stage – they host Iran’s Persepolis on Tuesday night – the three Saudi clubs hold the top three positions in the Champions League’s western group.
Al Ain, the defending champions, continued their horror defence of their continental title with defeat at home to Al Rayyan on Monday night. They are last, with just two points from seven matches. Al Wasl are fifth with 11 points from their seven matches.
Ronaldo said last season that the Saudi Pro League is a match for some of the leading competitions in Europe, given the investments that have been made,
After seeing his side ease to victory against Wasl, Stefano Pioli, the manager, was asked where he thinks Nassr would rank if they played in his home league back in Italy.
“It is difficult to compare the Saudi League with Serie A,” Pioli said. “What is more important is that the team is growing all the time.”
The task facing the rest scarcely gets any easier. Wasl will complete the group phase with a home fixture against unbeaten Al Hilal, Saudi’s most dominant side, in two weeks’ time.
“We cannot be happy with the result [against Nassr] because our performance was not consistent,” Milojevic said.
“We made two big mistakes and when we had the chances to punish them, we didn’t make good decisions. If it’s a transition it has to be quick and if we are in possession, we have to keep possession.
“It is very hard because we faced a really good team. To get positive results in those types of games you have to go over the mark, do much better, and I can’t do anything but blame myself and try to fix it for the next game against Hilal.”
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
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Favourite book: ‘The Art of Learning’ by Josh Waitzkin
Favourite film: Marvel movies
Favourite parkour spot in Dubai: Residence towers in Jumeirah Beach Residence
Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
Cases of coronavirus in the GCC as of March 15
Saudi Arabia – 103 infected, 0 dead, 1 recovered
UAE – 86 infected, 0 dead, 23 recovered
Bahrain – 210 infected, 0 dead, 44 recovered
Kuwait – 104 infected, 0 dead, 5 recovered
Qatar – 337 infected, 0 dead, 4 recovered
Oman – 19 infected, 0 dead, 9 recovered
Jetour T1 specs
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
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PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Liverpool v Manchester United - 3.30pm
Burnley v West Ham United - 6pm
Crystal Palace v Chelsea - 6pm
Manchester City v Stoke City - 6pm
Swansea City v Huddersfield Town - 6pm
Tottenham Hotspur v Bournemouth - 6pm
Watford v Arsenal - 8.30pm
Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Everton - 4.30pm
Southampton v Newcastle United - 7pm
Monday
Leicester City v West Bromwich Albion - 11pm
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.
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
