As we confront four more rounds of the Emirates Etisalat Cup over the next 22 days, this seems like a good time for UAE football supporters to decide how they feel about it.
Is the Etisalat Cup a fascinating twist on the Pro League season? A sort of second-chance competition for clubs already drifting far south in the table?
Does it shape up as more of a dash for cash? An opportunity for one club to claim a reward that was Dh2 million last season - and expected to be more this time round?
Or is it merely a glorified "place-holder" in a particularly saturated 2010/11 international football calendar? The football we are stuck with until the Pro League returns, December 12-13.
We know this is not the hoariest of domestic competitions. This is year three for the Etisalat Cup, and if you remember who won the first two (Al Ain and Al Jazira), consider yourself an aficionado of domestic football.
Our clubs are not much help in figuring out What This All Means. In round two, last week, some clubs (Al Ahli, for example) approached the Etisalat Cup as if it were a matter of the highest urgency. While others (like Jazira and Al Wahda) seemed to treat it as if it were a televised pick-up game.
Ahli rolled out nearly all of their first team for the cup match with Sharjah, including Fabio Cannavaro, Pinga, Aristide Bance, Ahmed Khamis and Obaid al Taweela.
Jazira, meanwhile, named a team that was missing Ibrahim Diaky, Subait Khater, Matias Delgado, Toni and Bare; and Wahda played without attacking stalwarts Fernando Baiano or Ismail Matar.
Local clubs are also missing the 22 young Emirati standouts in China at the Asian Games with the Olympic team. Wahda and Baniyas are hard hit by the Olympic-team absences, and Jazira are not far behind.
In the case of Ahli, their commitment to the game in Sharjah could be cynically interpreted as ramping up their efforts to win something in the first season of Cannavaro and the coach David O'Leary, a pair of expensive imports. While Wahda and Jazira, for example, were content to give the second string a try while they focus on the Club World Cup and Pro League, respectively.
To recapitulate: the Etisalat Cup organises the 12 Pro League clubs into two groups of six. Each club plays the other five in their group home and away, making for 10 rounds of games, or nearly two-and-a-half months of competition. The top two teams from each group play in the semi-finals, and the survivors go to the final.
The competition has never been so extended. It would be pretty to think that the longer tournament is because it seems better that way but, yes, it was created to cover several yawning gaps in the Pro League schedule resulting from national team commitments.
To wit: the Asian Games (November 6-28), the Gulf Cup (Yemen, November 22 until December 4) and the Asian Cup (Qatar, January 7-29). The best Emiratis tend to play for the most competitive club sides, and football officials decided it would be unfair to ask those clubs to play key Pro League matches while the national players were doing their duty.
Which returns us to the Etisalat Cup. Yes, it is a do-over for clubs who have stumbled in the Pro League, which should please fans. Yes, it is a shot at another payday, which should please clubs and players.
But most of all it answers our need for competitive football when the option might have been a football-less November, and that should please us all.
The weather is nice. What better time to spend a few hours with friends in the stands? To cheer on your team's regulars - as well as another five guys you may never have seen before.
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster
Price, base: Dh708,750
Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 374hp (total)
Torque: 570Nm (total)
Fuel economy, combined: 2.0L / 100km
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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
Premier Futsal 2017 Finals
Al Wasl Football Club; six teams, five-a-side
Delhi Dragons: Ronaldinho
Bengaluru Royals: Paul Scholes
Mumbai Warriors: Ryan Giggs
Chennai Ginghams: Hernan Crespo
Telugu Tigers: Deco
Kerala Cobras: Michel Salgado
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Super 30
Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5
Scorecard
Scotland 220
K Coetzer 95, J Siddique 3-49, R Mustafa 3-35
UAE 224-3 in 43,5 overs
C Suri 67, B Hameed 63 not out
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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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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"
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
HOW TO WATCH
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What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
3,000 technicians
10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers
New sound technology, named 4D SRL
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA