AL AIN // If this were a preview of the Asian Cup, both the UAE national side and tournament organisers in Qatar have reason to be excited.
An animated crowd of more than 6,000 watched the UAE and Syria engage in a impassioned, high-energy match won last night by the home side through second-half goals by Saeed al Kathiri and Theyab Awana at the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium.
The Asian Cup begins on Friday in Qatar and continues until January 29. Both the UAE and Syria will play in the quadrennial continental championship. "To win by two goals to none with Syria is a pretty good result, indeed," said Ismail Matar, the UAE captain whose introduction after the break seemed to invigorate coach Srecko Katanec's side.
"Of course there is always room for improvement and we need to hear that from the coach when we regroup again to work on the areas we need to improve," Matar added.
One topic Katanec is likely to stress is turning chances into goals. The UAE were particularly wasteful in the first 45 minutes, when they had nearly all the good chances. The 19-year-old striker Ahmed Khalil, usually clinical in front of goal squandered several opportunities.
Al Kathiri replaced Khalil on the hour, and the Al Wahda forward scored the game's first goal with his first touch. Khalid Sabeel sent a fine cross in from the right, and al Kathiri sprinted on to it. The ball struck his foot and bounced up to his shin, and his forward motion put the ball past Musaheb Belhouse, the Syrian goalkeeper, on the near post.
Awana, the Baniyas midfielder, got the clinching goal in the 89th minute by heading in a corner from Matar, a ball Belhouse was unable to reach as he came off his line.
Katanec's first XI were a young side, by design; he wanted a chance to see the age-group players who won a silver medal at the Asian Games for the Olympic (Under 23) team.
"The idea was for the coach to have a look at those players that were not in the Gulf Cup squad," said Ismail Rashid, the team manager. "He started with those who travelled for the Asian Games at the same time as the Gulf Cup.
"In terms of the result, it is always good to win the friendlies to build the confidence of the players. I think we did pretty well to win 2-0 against a team that's also preparing for the same competition."
The UAE had the better of the exchanges in the first half, with Ismail al Hammadi involved in all the moves.
The diminutive midfielder curled in a cross that fell away from Khalil and later set up his Al Ahli teammate with a golden chance to break the deadlock, which Khalil wasted with a feeble effort on a one-to-one with Belhouse.
Omer Abdulrahman then failed to get a touch on a rebound when Belhouse blocked a low shot from al Hammadi. Syria's best chance was an effort from Jihad al Hussein from the near post approaching half time.
Katanec made three changes at the half, bringing in Matar, Awana and Abdullah Mousa, and adding al Kathiri 15 minutes later. Syria generated some opportunities early in the second session, but the goalkeeper Ali Kashief was never really tested.
The UAE side looked more composed after the changes.
Khalil was wasteful again on a pass from Matar 12 minutes into the second half. He had enough time but managed only to put a shot over the crossbar.
The UAE are in Group D in the Asian Cup along with North Korea, whom they play first on January 11. Iraq, the defending champions, and Iran are the other teams in what appears to be the strongest group.
The UAE are ranked No 105 in the world by Fifa and Syria are No 107.
The home side likely will face a stiffer test on Wednesday when Australia provides the opposition at Al Ain. The Australians, one of the favourites for the Asian Cup, are ranked No 25, the highest placing for any Asian side.
apassela@thenational.ae
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
'Laal Kaptaan'
Director: Navdeep Singh
Stars: Saif Ali Khan, Manav Vij, Deepak Dobriyal, Zoya Hussain
Rating: 2/5
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
List of officials:
Referees: Chris Broad, David Boon, Jeff Crowe, Andy Pycroft, Ranjan Madugalle and Richie Richardson.
Umpires: Aleem Dar, Kumara Dharmasena, Marais Erasmus, Chris Gaffaney, Ian Gould, Richard Illingworth, Richard Kettleborough, Nigel Llong, Bruce Oxenford, Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Sundaram Ravi, Paul Reiffel, Rod Tucker, Michael Gough, Joel Wilson and Paul Wilson.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
