BANIYAS // When he offered his spectacles to the referee, Josef Hickersberger, the Al Wahda coach, was sent off by Mohammed al Zarouni, the match referee, who apparently saw no need for corrected vision.
As it turned out, it was good for Hickersberger, the 62-year-old Austrian, that he retained his eyeware because he was encouraged by what he saw in the second half.
To be sure, the visiting champions were defeated by emerging Pro League power Baniyas 2-1 before 3,522 fans, and fell 11 points behind leaders Al Jazira, and nine back of Baniyas, in the Pro League table.
Still, Hickersberger felt heartened by the way his side finished the game.
"If we can play as we did in the second half, I still think we have a good chance of defending the league title," he said.
Baniyas had surged to a two goal lead in the first half.
"We had a poor first half, and I think it was one of the worst I had witnessed," Hickersberger said. "But [the players] showed a lot of character to come back strongly and score a goal. And if we can continue playing the way we did in the second half, I think we still have a good chance of defending our title."
Andre Senghor opened the scoring with a penalty to take his league-leading tally to 12 from 10 games and Fawzi Basheer, the Oman international, later added a second from a looping shot that was badly misjudged by Adel al Hosani, the Wahda goalkeeper.
Mohammed al Shehhi, who came on as a late substitute for Wahda, narrowed the lead seven minutes from time but Baniyas held on to see out the rest of the game and claim the three points which took their season tally to 24.
Before the game, Hickersberger bemoaned the state of his side after three tough matches in the Club World Cup in the span of eight days.
But he did not cite the Fifa tournament as a reason for the defeat last night. Instead, he blamed two defensive lapses that were thoroughly out of character for what had been the hardest team to score against in the league; Wahda had conceded only five goals in their first eight league matches.
Senghor scored from the spot in the 12th minute after Basheer Saeed, the Wahda defender, extended both hands above his head and touched a cross in the box.
Fawzi Basheer doubled the lead in the 38th minute. His free kick from 30 yards struck the Wahda wall and came right back to him. He then kicked a high, looping shot that came down just under the bar and just beyond the fists of al Hosani, with the Wahda keeper badly at fault.
"This game, we played for the three points," said Lutfi al Benzarti, the Baniyas coach. "Having taken a 2-0 lead, we defended well in the second half. We knew Wahda strengthened their attack, and this is a side that had scored six goals in the Club World Cup.
"It is indeed a big step forward for us after a win with Wahda, and we are going the right way. Yet we want to take one game at a time because it is still too early in the league."
Trailing 2-0, Hickersberger augmented his attack by substituting Yaqoub al Hosani with Saeed al Kathiri and later brought in al Shehhi.
Hickersberger pushed up Hugo, the Brazilian midfielder, as Ismail Matar's striking partner in the absence of the injured Brazilian striker Fernando Baiano.
Al Kathiri who was doubtful before the match with flu, made little impact.
apassela@thenational.ae
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
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UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series
Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Ruwais timeline
1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established
1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants
1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed
1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.
1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex
2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea
2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd
2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens
2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies
2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export
2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.
2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery
2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital
2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13
Source: The National
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How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
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Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
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Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Cricket World Cup League Two
Teams
Oman, UAE, Namibia
Al Amerat, Muscat
Results
Oman beat UAE by five wickets
UAE beat Namibia by eight runs
Namibia beat Oman by 52 runs
UAE beat Namibia by eight wickets
Fixtures
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Oman
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
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PULITZER PRIZE 2020 WINNERS
JOURNALISM
Public Service
Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with ProPublica
Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
Investigative Reporting
Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times
Explanatory Reporting
Staff of The Washington Post
Local Reporting
Staff of The Baltimore Sun
National Reporting
T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica
and
Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times
International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times
Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker
Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times
Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times
Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press
Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker
Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters
Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press
Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”
LETTERS AND DRAMA
Fiction
"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson
History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)
Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)
Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
and
"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)
Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019
Special Citation
Ida B. Wells
More coverage from the Future Forum
WHEN TO GO:
September to November or March to May; this is when visitors are most likely to see what they’ve come for.
WHERE TO STAY:
Meghauli Serai, A Taj Safari - Chitwan National Park resort (tajhotels.com) is a one-hour drive from Bharatpur Airport with stays costing from Dh1,396 per night, including taxes and breakfast. Return airport transfers cost from Dh661.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Etihad Airways regularly flies from Abu Dhabi to Kathmandu from around Dh1,500 per person return, including taxes. Buddha Air (buddhaair.com) and Yeti Airlines (yetiairlines.com) fly from Kathmandu to Bharatpur several times a day from about Dh660 return and the flight takes just 20 minutes. Driving is possible but the roads are hilly which means it will take you five or six hours to travel 148 kilometres.
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
- Flexible work arrangements
- Pension support
- Mental well-being assistance
- Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
- Financial well-being incentives
