DUBAI // Al Shabab's search for a first win in this season's Asian Champions League continues after they were held to a draw at home by Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal last night as ugly scenes once again marred the end of their match.
Last Thursday, Diego Maradona, the Al Wasl coach, had to be escorted away by police after running into the stands to confront Shabab supporters after verbal insults were allegedly directed at the Argentine's wife.
With full time approaching last night, the referee was forced to hold up play for a couple of minutes as Shabab's Walid Abbas and Salem Al Dawsari of Hilal pushed each other following a heated exchange. At the same time, Kieza, Shabab's Brazilian striker, got into an argument with some Hilal defenders on the other side of the pitch.
Officials quickly managed to calm the situation down on the pitch, while security at the stadium were quick to get between the rivals fans before their verbal barbs turned into anything more sinister.
The result leaves Shabab rooted to the bottom of Group D with two points, while Hilal registered their third draw from three games.
Earlier, Ciel had given Shabab a 37th minute lead, but the South Korean Yoo Byung-soo cancelled it out in the 67th minute.
Having just one point from their first two matches after playing out a goalless draw against Al Gharafa and the humiliating 6-1 defeat away at Persepolis last month, Shabab were keen to get their Group D quest back on track.
Paulo Bonamigo, the Shabab coach, felt his side deserved better than a share of the points, saying: "It was a very difficult game as we expected. Part of our strategy was to use Ciel from the right as a winger and counter attack with Walid Abbas from the left side, trying to surprise Hilal.
"We created some good chances, but at this level, if you create three or four chances and don't score, it can make things complicated for you.
"However, I want to congratulate the boys. They followed all the instructions and now we just need to keep fighting and see where we finish."
Taking the field without their influential midfielders Azizbek Haydarov and Carlos Villanueva through injury, the hosts made an impressive start and twice should have opened the scoring in the first 10 minutes, but Kieza came up short on both occasions.
Ciel, who had been clattered by a crunching tackle by Majed Marshadi moments earlier, then tested Khalid Sharahili, the Hilal goalkeeper, with a deft turn and volley in the 31st minute which the Saudi did well to keep out.
The Brazilian, however, did eventually register his second goal of the competition. Receiving the ball from Naser Masood just inside the Hilal half, Ciel dashed down the pitch, drifting away from the defenders, before finishing with a scorcher from the edge of the penalty area.
Hilal started the brighter of the two teams after the interval with Yoo unleashing a spectacular overhead volley, which sailed just over the target.
Shabab survived a few tense moments with the defender Hamdan Qassim showing great reflexes as he blocked a couple of quick shots from close range.
The Shabab defence came under mounting pressure as the game progressed and Hilal found the leveller in the 69th minute. Youssef El Arabi bisected two Shabab defenders as he flicked the ball forward for Yoo and the South Korean placed it in the far corner.
Shabab should have regained the lead when Ciel crossed the ball for Kieza, but his compatriot headed the ball straight into the hands of the Hilal keeper.
"We played really bad in the first half," said Ivan Hasek, the Hilala coach who knows Shabab well from his previous experiences as coach of Al Ahli in the Pro League.
"Our performance picked up in the second session and we created many chances, but could not take advantage of them.
"To sum things up, our performance in the first half was a disaster."
arizvi@thenational.ae
Player profile of Ajaman's Hassan Maatouk, s8
SPECS
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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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
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Revibe%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hamza%20Iraqui%20and%20Abdessamad%20Ben%20Zakour%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Refurbished%20electronics%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20raised%20so%20far%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2410m%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFlat6Labs%2C%20Resonance%20and%20various%20others%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mountain%20Boy
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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 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
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The%C2%A0specs%20
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