Hard to overstate how big the arrival of Diego Maradona on these shores has been. The former Argentina superstar and national team coach, whose life almost was extinguished by drug abuse a decade-plus ago … has been received with open arms in the UAE and, especially, Dubai … and he seems to be returning the […]
Entries Tagged as 'Pro League'
Maradona Conquers Dubai
December 19th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Football, Pro League, soccer, The National, UAE
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Abu Dhabi at Its Best
December 13th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Abu Dhabi, Dubai, France, Lists, Paris, Pro League, soccer, The National, tourism, UAE
A secret I now will reveal. The final few days in Paris, when it had gotten rainy, and even darker … I was looking forward to getting back to Abu Dhabi. Seriously. My preference, there at the end, was to leave Paris … and go to Abu Dhabi. Yes. Seems a bit daft. But we […]
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UAE Football: Wait Till 2018!
November 11th, 2011 · No Comments · Dubai, Fifa, Football, Olympics, Pro League, soccer, The National, UAE, World Cup
You think your national soccer team has problems? (Well, if your team is China, it does.) The UAE fell out of contention for the 2014 World Cup today, November 11, 2011 — three-and-a-half years ahead of the 2014 World Cup. Done. Out of it. Can’t survive the second-to-last round of Asia Confederation qualifying. That’s right. […]
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UAE ‘Backheel PK’ Soccer Player Dies in Car Crash
September 26th, 2011 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, Football, Pro League, The National, UAE, World Cup
Theyab Awana became probably the most famous UAE soccer player in history after he scored against Lebanon in July on a backheel penalty. The goal became an internet sensation. As of tonight, his audacious shot appears to have been viewed more than 10 million times on various YouTube entries, such as this one. Theyab Awana […]
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The Soccer Leagues We Deserve
September 18th, 2011 · 1 Comment · Abu Dhabi, Football, Lists, Pro League, soccer, The National, UAE
A notion popped into my head while writing a column for The National about how this looks like it could/should be the best season in the history of the UAE’s domestic soccer league: An imbalance exists in many countries between the leagues those nations deserve … and the league that they have. In both directions: […]
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Maradona Brings His Team to Abu Dhabi
September 15th, 2011 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, Football, Pro League, soccer, The National, UAE
I had never been impressed with Diego Maradona as a coach, which anyone who read my South Africa countdown 2010 blog can attest. This is a guy who can barely function in life … but I’m not even going to broach those issues. It was Maradona the manager who almost achieved the impossible — failing […]
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Top 10 Soccer Players in the UAE
September 13th, 2011 · 4 Comments · Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Football, Lists, Pro League, soccer, UAE, World Cup
This differs markedly from the list in the item below — because this one includes the 40-plus foreigners in the league. The number of foreigners playing in the Pro League here in the UAE is up to a potential 48 this season (from 36 a year ago) because the league chose to add a fourth […]
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An Occidental’s Occupational Hazard
July 7th, 2011 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, Pro League, soccer, The National, UAE
When you go out on assignment, in sports, in the UAE, a concept you don’t really consider, at first, is this: About 90 percent of the Gulf Arabs you will encounter … will all be wearing kandouras. OK, sure. So what’s the problem?
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Trying to Salvage a Football League
June 22nd, 2011 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, Pro League, soccer, The National, UAE
Such a strange story. Blowing up the domestic football league in order to save it. As we got into Day 3, things began to settle down. By now, Football Association sources (and the FA is now in charge of the league) seemed to spend much of their time telling us about all the things that […]
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Fabio Up for Another Year in Dubai
June 18th, 2011 · No Comments · Abu Dhabi, Pro League, soccer, The National, UAE, World Cup
The rumors had been that Fabio Cannavaro might be one-and-done as a player in the UAE’s Pro League. The man may have been Fifa Player of the Year as recently as 2006, but the little Italian looked pretty much done this year while playing for the Dubai club Al Ahli. He wasn’t awful, exactly. He […]
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