The UAE Olympic team were more enterprising on the pitch and created more scoring chances, but they had to settle for a silver medal when Japan scored in the 73rd minute to claim a 1-0 victory in the gold medal match at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
"We tried to diversify our ways of attack but were unlucky and that's football," said Hassan al Abdouli, the UAE assistant coach. "You may perform beautifully but you may not score."
He felt his side improved steadily throughout the competition, which began back on November 7 with a surprise 1-1 draw with Hong Kong in the group stages.
"We improved to the point that some of the teams were forced to defend while we were playing," al Abdouli said. "We learned a lot. We are on the right track. We are looking forward to the London Olympics and what's beyond the Olympics."
Yuki Saneto, the Japan right-back who plays for Kawasaki Frontale, broke the deadlock 17 minutes from time.
Saneto, unmarked on the far side, collected a cross from the left, and he had enough time to take aim and powerfully strike it to the far side corner of the net past Ali Kasheif, the UAE goalkeeper and captain, who seemed to get a finger on the ball as he dived to his right.
Kensuke Nagai had a chance to extend Japan's lead but Kasheif came out of the area to deny him from taking a clear shot at the empty goal.
The UAE came achingly close to taking the lead in the added time of the first half. Ahmed Ali's effort from eight yards off a cross from Theyab Awana hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced down to the ground and rebounded up to the crossbar again off the heel of Shunsuke Ando, the Japanese goalkeeper, who finally gathered it just outside the goalmouth after the second deflection.
Ali also had a chance to score early in the game with a crowd-pleasing bicycle kick. The move was technically impressive, and on target, but it also was directly at the well-placed Ando, who scooped it up. Japan's keeper also made a desperate dive to contain a redirected header from Saeed al Kathiri, a late substitute whose glancing shot nine minutes from full time almost brought the UAE level.
Mahdi Ali, the UAE coach, introduced Mohammed al Shehhi and al Kathiri, the two Al Wahda forwards, with 11 minutes left in a bid to grab an equaliser.
Al Shehhi limped off with four minutes left and was replaced by Haboush Saleh, and Japan, who conceded just one goal in seven matches, held on until the end to complete a football double; their women's team had defeated South Korea for gold two days ago.
The UAE, making their first appearance in the Asian Games finals, came into the match after a win over Asian powerhouse South Korea. That semi-final was in the balance until the last kick of extra time, when Ahmed Ali scored the winner.
The Emirates also had to play 120 minutes before winning a 9-8 quarter-final shoot-out against North Korea in the quarter-final.
Those two energy-sapping games did not seem to show in the final as the UAE finished with six shots on goal to Japan's two and controlled the ball for nearly 60 percent of the game.
"Before the game I told my players to contain the UAE's strength and try to create momentum and rhythm on our side," said Takashi Sekizuka, the Japan coach. "I told my players to be patient - patience brings about good opportunities."
South Korea won the bronze-medal match 4-3 over Iran earlier yesterday.
The Koreans went into halftime training 2-0 but rallied sharply, and substitute Ji Dong-won scored in the 88th minute to equalize. He added the deciding goal just a minute later.
* With agencies
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Abramovich London
A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.
A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.
Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.
Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Ballon d’Or shortlists
Men
Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool), Sergio Aguero (Aregentina/Manchester City), Frenkie de Jong (Netherlans/Barcelona), Hugo Lloris (France/Tottenham), Dusan Tadic (Serbia/Ajax), Kylian Mbappe (France/PSG), Trent Alexander-Arnold (England/Liverpool), Donny van de Beek (Netherlands/Ajax), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon/Arsenal), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Germany/Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/Juventus), Alisson (Brazil/Liverpool), Matthijs de Ligt (Netherlands/Juventus), Karim Benzema (France/Real Madrid), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands/Liverpool), Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands/Liverpool), Bernardo Silva (Portugal/Manchester City), Son Heung-min (South Korea/Tottenham), Robert Lewandowski (Poland/Bayern Munich), Roberto Firmino (Brazil/Liverpool), Lionel Messi (Argentina/Barcelona), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria/Manchester City), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium/Manchester City), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli), Antoine Griezmann (France/Barcelona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool), Eden Hazard (BEL/Real Madrid), Marquinhos (Brazil/Paris-SG), Raheem Sterling (Eengland/Manchester City), Joao Félix(Portugal/Atletico Madrid)
Women
Sam Kerr (Austria/Chelsea), Ellen White (England/Manchester City), Nilla Fischer (Sweden/Linkopings), Amandine Henry (France/Lyon), Lucy Bronze(England/Lyon), Alex Morgan (USA/Orlando Pride), Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands/Arsenal), Dzsenifer Marozsan (Germany/Lyon), Pernille Harder (Denmark/Wolfsburg), Sarah Bouhaddi (France/Lyon), Megan Rapinoe (USA/Reign FC), Lieke Martens (Netherlands/Barcelona), Sari van Veenendal (Netherlands/Atletico Madrid), Wendie Renard (France/Lyon), Rose Lavelle(USA/Washington Spirit), Marta (Brazil/Orlando Pride), Ada Hegerberg (Norway/Lyon), Kosovare Asllani (Sweden/CD Tacon), Sofia Jakobsson (Sweden/CD Tacon), Tobin Heath (USA/Portland Thorns)
Mountain%20Boy
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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