ABU DHABI // Lyon should tonight discover plenty about the character and ability of Hamdan Al Kamali, the Al Wahda defender who is on their transfer radar.
Amid intense speculation about his future, Al Kamali will need to demonstrate mental fortitude to block out thoughts of a potential move to the French side when he attempts to thwart a free-scoring Al Jazira side in what is likely to be a high-octane derby at Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium tonight.
Although Khaled Awadh, the Wahda chief executive officer, claimed the player will not be leaving the club, Al Kamali has maintained he will make a decision on his future after match with the champions and this season's leading scorers.
He will need to be at his sharpest mentally and physically to shackle a Jazira side who boast two of the three top scorers in the league.
Josef Hickersberger, the Wahda coach, will have no qualms about pitching Al Kamali into the heat of the battle tonight, even though Basheer Saeed, his regular central defensive partner, has been left out of the last three games amid talks of a move either to Al Ain or Al Ahli.
Hickersberger will be grateful Al Kamali is available as he is already without Mohammed Al Shehhi, who is a week or two away from a full fitness, Magrao, the Brazilian midfielder, and Eisa Ahmed, the defender.
Wahda are looking to take advantage of an out of sorts Jazira side who have picked up a solitary point in their last three matches.
"Jazira made a good start," Hickersberger said. "They looked very strong and I thought they will runaway with the league, but after the recent results, they don't look as strong as they were in the first few weeks. They have lost some points and I do believe we have a good chance to make a good result in this away game."
Wahda go into the game in buoyant mood following the 2-1 win over Al Wasl in their last league game and Hickersberger is likely to keep faith with the same XI.
"There is no need to change a winning team, even against a strong team like Jazira for tactical reasons," he said.
"What we want to do against Jazira is to play a fast passing game, faster than we did in the last two games. If we can do that we can create chances."
Franky Vercauteren, the Jazira coach, will be without the suspended Salem Masoud. He will be replaced by Khalid Sebil in what is otherwise likely to be an unchanged line-up to the side who were held to a 2-2 draw by Al Nasr.
"Wahda have had some good results and we have had some poor results, but they don't matter when it comes to a derby match," Vercauteren said.
apassela@thenational.ae
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The bio
Academics: Phd in strategic management in University of Wales
Number one caps: His best-seller caps are in shades of grey, blue, black and yellow
Reading: Is immersed in books on colours to understand more about the usage of different shades
Sport: Started playing polo two years ago. Helps him relax, plus he enjoys the speed and focus
Cars: Loves exotic cars and currently drives a Bentley Bentayga
Holiday: Favourite travel destinations are London and St Tropez
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
