SHARJAH // Al Nasr became the first club to qualify to the semi-finals of the President’s Cup on Monday night when they defeated Al Dhaid 3-2 at Al Sharjah Stadium, but not before getting a mighty scare from the Division One club.
Dhaid, who had upset the top-flight side Al Shaab in the previous round, got off to a perfect start by taking the lead in farcical manner in the third minute.
A long ball into Nasr’s penalty area had goalkeeper Saoud Saeed back-peddling to his goal line as Pan Koulibaly bore down on him. The goalkeeper slipped, leaving the Burkino Faso striker the easiest of chances to score.
A shock looked on the cards when Al Nasr were frustrated throughout the first half in their efforts to pull level.
The turning point of the match came two minutes into the second half when Dhaid’s Abdullah Mohammed gave away a penalty which Leonardo Lima converted to square the match. With Dhaid down to 10 men, Nasr took control and then the lead, on 53 minutes, when Ibrahima Toure headed from a Brett Holman cross.
The Arabian Gulf League side looked to have settled the tie when Tariq Ahmed’s low drive made it 3-1 with only five minutes left, but Dhaid hit back two minutes later through Omar Al Mansouri’s excellent left-foot drive.
Despite a few uncomfortable minutes, Nasr held on to progress to the next round, but their coach Ivan Jovanovic was far from pleased with performance.
“It was a difficult game for us for sure, and it’s very important that we got to the President’s Cup semi-final,” he said.
“But the performance we gave in the first half was not what we expect from Al Nasr.”
Jovanovic acknowledged that his team has underperformed against teams they are expected to beat in the cup.
“It’s true, when you play a second-division team you have to be very serious,” he added. “We conceded first and were chasing the game, which is a concern for us.”
Dhaid’s assistant coach Ibrahima Traore was proud of the way his team played, especially after the sending off. “I’m very happy with the team. Many people thought we couldn’t come here and score twice but the penalty and the red card changed the match,” he said. “We are proud.”
Al Ahli through after difficult game against Al Wahda
Ciel’s 60th-minute penalty gave Al Ahli their first lead, and a strike by Ismail Al Hammadi in the 80th minute clinched an unexpectedly difficult 4-2 victory over Al Wahda for the President’s Cup holders at Khalifa Stadium in Al Ain on Monday night.
Luis Jimenez and Grafite also scored for the winners. Damian Diaz scored both of Wahda’s goals. After an 11-pass sequence by Wahda, the little Argentine fired home a rocket from 24 metres to grab a 1-0 lead for the Abu Dhabi side. His crisp diagonal goal inside the far post made it 2-1 before half time.
Rogerio stars for Al Dhafra
Jose Rogerio, the Brazilian striker, scored in the second minute of extra time as Al Dhafra scored a shock 1-0 victory over Al Shabab at the Baniyas Stadium.
Rogerio joined Abdullah Misfir’s side only a week ago, but his goal puts Dhafra in the semi-finals and knocks out last year’s losing finalists.
akhaled@thenational.ae
Tottenham's 10 biggest transfers (according to transfermarkt.com):
1). Moussa Sissokho - Newcastle United - £30 million (Dh143m): Flop
2). Roberto Soldado - Valencia - £25m: Flop
3). Erik Lamela - Roma - £25m: Jury still out
4). Son Heung-min - Bayer Leverkusen - £25m: Success
5). Darren Bent - Charlton Athletic - £21m: Flop
6). Vincent Janssen - AZ Alkmaar - £18m: Flop
7). David Bentley - Blackburn Rovers - £18m: Flop
8). Luka Modric - Dynamo Zagreb - £17m: Success
9). Paulinho - Corinthians - £16m: Flop
10). Mousa Dembele - Fulham - £16m: Success
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.
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
Company%20Profile
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Spare
Profile
Company name: Spare
Started: March 2018
Co-founders: Dalal Alrayes and Saurabh Shah
Based: UAE
Sector: FinTech
Investment: Own savings. Going for first round of fund-raising in March 2019
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
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
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Company%20profile
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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"
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
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
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