DUBAI // Colombian Reinaldo Rueda could be confirmed as the new UAE national team manager within the next week, should contract negotiations proceed as planned.
The former Colombia, Honduras and Ecuador manager, currently in charge of Atletico Nacional in his homeland, has emerged as the UAE Football Association’s primary target, and has thus been offered a two-year deal to succeed Mahdi Ali.
Rueda, 60, is willing to step back into international management after a successful two years with Atletico, in which he has led the club to a number of national and South American honours.
The FA’s proposal would carry Rueda through to the conclusion of the next Asian Cup, which takes place in the UAE in 2019, from January 5 to February 1.
Rueda has a contract with Atletico until next year, although the penalty clause to break that agreement is not expected to scupper any potential deal.
The UAE are seeking a new manager following Mahdi Ali’s resignation at the end of March.
The Emirati, who took charge of the senior team in August 2012, stepped down in the immediate aftermath of the UAE’s defeat in the 2018 World Cup qualifier to Australia.
The 2-0 reverse came only five days after the team lost at home to Japan by the same scoreline.
The results leave the UAE in real danger of missing out on what would be only a second appearance at a World Cup finals.
With three matches remaining in the final stage of qualification for Russia next year, the UAE sit fourth in Group B, seven points off the automatic qualification spots.
A third-placed finish offers a route via a series of play-offs, but the national team are currently four points back from Australia in third.
The UAE resume their bid to reach the World Cup on June 13, when they face bottom-placed Thailand in Bangkok.
That the fixture is fast approaching has prompted the FA to expedite negotiations with Rueda, with a resolution expected within the next week at most.
He was identified as a leading candidate for the position some time ago, however the FA did not deal directly with the appropriate representative until the past few days.
Rueda’s appeal lies in his international record. After excelling with Colombian age-group teams from 2002 — he guided the country’s Under-20 side to third at the 2003 Fifa World Youth Championships in the UAE — he was installed as senior-team manager midway through qualification for the 2006 World Cup.
Colombia failed to make the tournament, but Rueda then took charge of Honduras in 2007, leading the team to the 2010 World Cup — only their second appearance at football’s showpiece event.
There, Honduras finished bottom of their group, with Rueda stepping down from the role after the tournament in South Africa.
Almost immediately, he accepted the Ecuador job, where he spent four years and guided his side to the 2014 World Cup.
They finished third in their group in Brazil. Rueda joined Atletico in 2015, with the club winning the Colombian championship, the Copa Colombia and last year’s Copa Libertadores — South America’s premier club competition.
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Biography
Her family: She has four sons, aged 29, 27, 25 and 24 and is a grandmother-of-nine
Favourite book: Flashes of Thought by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid
Favourite drink: Water
Her hobbies: Reading and volunteer work
Favourite music: Classical music
Her motto: I don't wait, I initiate
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
FIGHT CARD
1. Featherweight 66kg
Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg
Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg
Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg
Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg
Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg
Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg
Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg
Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Abdipatta Abdizhali (KGZ)
9. Featherweight 66kg
Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg
Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
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
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
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
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Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
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Investment: approximately $80 million
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One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
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