Saad unfazed by UAE opponents

DUBAI // Bakhit Saad, the national team captain, is not worried about battling it out with Portugal and Uruguay for the two quarter-final spots from their group at the Beach Soccer World Cup. The tournament kicks-off on November 16, at a purpose-built 5,000- seater stadium on Umm Sequim beach, with Switzerland meeting the second Asian qualifier in the opening game at 1.30pm. Six hours later the UAE will launch their campaign against Portugal. The hosts will then meet Solomon Islands next day before facing off against Uruguay in their final Group A game on November 18, which could decide the second quarter-final berth from the pool.

"People may think we might struggle because we are in a strong group with Portugal and Uruguay," said Saad. "But, fortunately, in beach soccer you cannot predict anything: there are always some surprises in every tournament. "So we are not worried. We have been training well and we are in good shape. We went to Brazil for a camp and played a tournament in Portugal. After Ramadan we will be going for a camp in Spain.

"So I believe we are ready for the tournament. We will be facing strong sides, but we are confident. "When you go the World Cup, you have to face the strong teams. It's normal. You cannot just play the average sides. "It is a strong group, but we will work hard to reach the quarter-finals. That is first goal, and we will see from there." arizvi@thenational.ae

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.