Al Hilal have parted company with manager Jorge Jesus after their exit from the AFC Champions League Elite finals in Jeddah.
The Portuguese coach delivered a domestic double in emphatic fashion last season, when his side won 31 of 34 Saudi Pro League matches in an unbeaten campaign.
The Riyadh club have fallen short of those standards this time around, though. Their challenge on all fronts has unravelled in recent times, with a string of poor results as well as visible player unrest.
They have all but conceded their league title to Al Ittihad, who they now trail by six points with five games remaining, and are out of the cup, too.
They then crashed out of the continental competition on Tuesday night when they were outplayed by Jeddah side Al Ahli.
That 3-1 loss was characterised by a loss of discipline on and off the field, while Kaio Cesar, the Brazilian winger, was outwardly furious after being substituted nine minutes after coming on.
Jesus’s departure seemed a certainty from that point on, and it was confirmed on Friday night, with his assistant coach Mohammed Al Shalhoub taking temporary charge.
A permanent appointment is expected to be made before the Club World Cup in June, and there are some high-profile contenders for the position.
Jose Mourinho
Hilal have an enviable squad, but since Neymar left in the January transfer window after an ill-starred, injury-marred stay, they do not have a player of unquestionable global renown.
Maybe they will resolve that by placing a superstar in the technical area instead. There are still few more recognisable figures in the sport than Mourinho.
He might be a little greyer and a lot wiser now, but, at 62 years old, the Fenerbahce manager is still eight years Jesus’s junior.
Carlo Ancelotti
Jesus’s departure from Riyadh could yet work in his own favour. It means he is immediately available for Brazil.
The Selecao’s No1 choice is said to be Ancelotti, but the move has faced problems due to the terms of his departure from Real Madrid.
If Brazil tire of waiting, Jesus is said to be favoured for the role. And then if Ancelotti does subsequently leave Madrid, he could slot in at Hilal.
Xavi Hernandez
Like his one-time mentor Pep Guardiola has done in the past, Xavi is currently taking a year out of the game after a stressful stint managing Barcelona.
He will be ready to return this summer, and is not short of suitors. Among others, he has been linked with Roma and Manchester United in recent months.
Hilal has now emerged as a possibility, too. It does not seem the most obvious fit for someone who is European football royalty.
But the former Barcelona captain did have six years in the region as player then manager for Qatari side Al Sadd.
Nuno Espirito-Santo
The fingerprints of Jorge Mendes, the influential agent, are all over the Saudi project. He represents Hilal players Joao Cancelo and Ruben Neves, Daniel Podence at Al Shabab, and, of course, Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr.
It stands to reason he will try to place one of his clients in charge at Hilal next.
One such coach, Espirito-Santo, had a successful stint in Saudi either side of working in England’s Premier League. He delivered a first SPL title in 14 years for Jeddah’s Al Ittihad back in 2022.
Whether he would want to give up on all the fine work he has done at Nottingham Forest, though, is questionable.
Marco Silva
It seems odd to think that Silva, who once used to change clubs nearly as often as he changed his clothes, is now one of the Premier League’s longest serving managers.
He has done fine work establishing Fulham as a competitive outfit in England’s top division.
Despite another impressive campaign this time, they look likely to miss out on European football, which could be his cue to look elsewhere.
With Mendes as his agent, that might mean looking at a trip to the Saudi capital to work.
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S24%20ULTRA
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MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Company profile
Date started: Founded in May 2017 and operational since April 2018
Founders: co-founder and chief executive, Doaa Aref; Dr Rasha Rady, co-founder and chief operating officer.
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: Health-tech
Size: 22 employees
Funding: Seed funding
Investors: Flat6labs, 500 Falcons, three angel investors
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Ten10 Cricket League
Venue and schedule Sharjah Cricket Stadium, December 14 to 17
Teams
Maratha Arabians Leading player: Virender Sehwag; Top picks: Mohammed Amir, Imad Wasim; UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Zahoor Khan
Bengal Lions Leading player: Sarfraz Ahmed; Top picks: Sunil Narine, Mustafizur Rahman; UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Rameez Shahzad
Kerala Kings Leading player: Eoin Morgan; Top picks: Kieron Pollard, Sohail Tanvir; UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Imran Haider
Pakhtoons Leading player: Shahid Afridi; Top picks: Fakhar Zaman, Tamim Iqbal; UAE players: Amjad Javed, Saqlain Haider
Punjabi Legends Leading player: Shoaib Malik; Top picks: Hasan Ali, Chris Jordan; UAE players: Ghulam Shabber, Shareef Asadullah
Team Sri Lanka Cricket Will be made up of Colombo players who won island’s domestic limited-overs competition
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Where to Find Me by Alba Arikha
Alma Books
