Well, this is a bit awkward. The UAE women’s national team tonight won their second West Asian Football Federation championship, following up on the title they won at the last WAFF tournament, in early 2010.
What we have here is something Americans could recognize: Compared to their rivals, the women’s national soccer team appears to be […]

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Not an unexpected defeat for the UAE in World Cup qualifying. South Korea is the favorite to win the group, and playing in Suwon … well, it was always going to be tough for the Emiratis.
What made it more painful was arriving in Korea with zero points from the Kuwait match (3-2 loss at home) […]

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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 died in […]

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I was aware of this, a bit. I clearly remember, X number of years ago (during that short period when the proudly clueless Dutchman Ruud Gullit was coaching the Galaxy), having this pointed out to me.
Gullit was talking to a few of us after a practice session, and he just launched into a Jeremiad about […]

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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 foreigner […]

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We all love them. Lists. The cheesiest website-hit-driving device ever created. Well, aside from “slide shows” of kittens or puppies.
After a long drought, we’re banging out a list,
Today, we’re going to go a little exotic here. My sense of the 10 best soccer players in the UAE — and we’re talking about Emiratis here, not […]

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If I were put in charge of domestic soccer here in the UAE, a job I somehow doubt will be offered to me, one of the first matters I would attend to?
Making sure that big news stories are not allowed to happen on the same day.
In the past four months, the UAE twice has seen […]

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I am back in Abu Dhabi but still talking to people around me about Beirut and my three days there, which were jammed with enough events and anecdotes and revelations to have felt like three weeks.
Before we go any further, let’s link to a discussion that a Beirut-based blogger told me about, a discussion based […]

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When you are the visiting team in Beirut, you know your night did not go well when some of the local citizens let off a few rounds of celebratory gunfire after the score goes final. It probably also was not a good night when your coach is fired about 90 minutes after the game.
Which is […]

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Well, it hasn’t been dull.
I am trying to dash this off before the UAE match against Lebanon, in Beirut, gets started.
I am in the bowels of a battered stadium with lots and lots of history, much of it not good (war and destruction and refugees), and just getting here was an expedition.
Backing up, and going […]

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