One of the standout players in the UAE league conspired to push World Cup qualification further from the national team’s reach, as he inspired Iran to a 2-0 win in Tehran on Thursday night.
Sardar Azmoun, the imported star striker for Dubai’s table-topping club Shabab Al Ahli, scored the opening goal for the home team.
Mohammed Mohebi put the game beyond the UAE in the second phase of an eventful qualifier in the Iranian capital.
With three games left in the group, the national team’s hopes of claiming one of the two automatic qualification places for the main event in the United States, Canada and Mexico are starting to fade.
The result leaves them nine points behind first-placed Iran. In a game that kicked off simultaneously, Uzbekistan beat Kyrgyzstan 1-0. That extended their advantage in second place over the UAE to six points.
The Uzbeks have to travel to the UAE in the last window of this round of qualifying, in June. The national team also have fixtures against North Korea and Kyrgyzstan in which to try to cut the deficit.
Paulo Bento, the UAE coach, had been creative in his attempt to shock the group leaders, and finals regulars, Iran.
Most notably, Fabio De Lima, the Al Wasl playmaker who scored four goals in the last qualifier, against Qatar in November, had to make do with a place on the bench.
Caio Lucas debuted, nearly nine years after he first arrived at Al Ain from Kashima Antlers, at the tip of the UAE attack. He would have plenty of work to do as the lone striker in a 5-4-1 set up.
Lucas Pimenta, Al Wahda’s Brazil-born defender, also made his first appearance for the national team, at the centre of the new-look five-man backline.
That included Mackenzie Hunt on the left, where he usually plays his club football for Fleetwood Town in the English fourth tier. More often for the UAE in his budding career so far, though, he has played as a central midfielder.
If the UAE line-up was novel, the threats posed by their opposition were well known.
During the pre-kick off formalities, Azmoun was the last player in the Iran line-up. As the sides greeted each other, he was met with a big smile by many, especially from Yahya Al Ghassani and Harib Abdalla, his teammates at Adnoc Pro League title-chasers Shabab Al Ahli.
In the fifth minute, the two UAE-based forwards for Iran combined to create the first opening of the game.
Mehdi Ghayedi, the Ittihad Kalba winger who scored the goal which separated the two sides in the corresponding fixture earlier in the group, crossed from the left.
Azmoun chested the ball into the path of Mohebi. Somehow, he managed to shoot at Khalid Essa when it seemed easier to score, and the ball bounced away to safety off the goalkeeper’s knee.
The match was delayed in the 11th minute when one of the floodlights at the Azadi Sports Complex failed. As the ground staff attempted to fix the fault, the crowd flashed the torches from their mobile phones as an impromptu solution.
Fourteen minutes after the delay started, the referee directed the players off the field and to the dressing rooms.
Until that point, the two sides had tried to keep themselves warm in the cool and wet conditions by kicking balls around between themselves. For some of the time, Al Ghassani and Azmoun were giggling between themselves about the situation.
Almost as soon as the players had made it to the dressing rooms, the malfunction was rectified. But by the time the light was back up to full beam and play resumed, the delay had been 29 minutes.
It was UAE who settled best after the disruption. Lucas had the chance to mark his debut in style, but fired a fierce drive just wide. And Hunt, after one of many fine overlapping runs from full-back, shot straight at the goalkeeper.
All the promise from the away side dissipated when, with 73 minutes on the clock – but still just before half-time – Azmoun found himself totally unmarked six yards out.
Where Mohebi failed from similar range earlier on, Azmoun could not miss, and he headed the hosts into the lead.
Mohebi did have the ball in the net straight after the interval, latching on to a long ball out of Iran’s defence, outpacing Pimenta, then shooting past Essa. The away side were reprieved by the offside flag, though.
Mohebi finally did get his goal in the 70th minute. The UAE had just reshuffled their shape, bringing De Lima and Jonatas Santos, another debutant, on to chase a goal.
All it served to do was to leave more space at the back. Mohebi made the most of it immediately, racing through and forcing the second goal past Essa.
Green ambitions
- Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
- Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
- Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
- Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
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23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
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US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
India squad
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, K.L. Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
If you go…
Emirates launched a new daily service to Mexico City this week, flying via Barcelona from Dh3,995.
Emirati citizens are among 67 nationalities who do not require a visa to Mexico. Entry is granted on arrival for stays of up to 180 days.
Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
Greatest Royal Rumble results
John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match
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Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Director: Scott Cooper
Starring: Jeremy Allen White, Odessa Young, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 4/5
Match info
Liverpool 3
Hoedt (10' og), Matip (21'), Salah (45 3')
Southampton 0
The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
The biog
Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
Favourite car: Lamborghini
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FINAL LEADERBOARD
1. Jordan Spieth (USA) 65 69 65 69 - 12-under-par
2. Matt Kuchar (USA) 65 71 66 69 - 9-under
3. Li Haotong (CHN) 69 73 69 63 - 6-under
T4. Rory McIlroy (NIR) 71 68 69 67 - 5-under
T4. Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP) 67 73 67 68 - 5-under
T6. Marc Leishman (AUS) 69 76 66 65 - 4-under
T6. Matthew Southgate (ENG) 72 72 67 65 - 4-under
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EU Russia
The EU imports 90 per cent of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40 per cent of EU gas and a quarter of its oil.
