Bento’s UAE look to finally step out of shadow of Golden Generation at AFC Asian Cup

Paulo Bento attends a press conference at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) in Doha (AFP)
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Updated 12 January 2024
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Bento’s UAE look to finally step out of shadow of Golden Generation at AFC Asian Cup

  • Portuguese coach had promising start overseeing Whites who head to Qatar with cautious optimism after turbulent years

Abu Dhabi: An Asian Cup imbued with tantalizing, yet fragile, hope lies ahead for Paulo Bento’s blossoming UAE.

Pained memories of a tortured World Cup 2022 qualifying campaign were assuaged in a six-match winning run upon the ex-Portugal and South Korea tactician’s summer arrival.

A sense of renewal defines the 54-year-old’s refreshed squad who are attempting to follow in hallowed footsteps of their nation’s Golden Generation and secure a third successive semi-final berth.

Previous AFC players of the year, Ahmed Khalil and Omar Abdulrahman, are now glorious footnotes. New leadership allied with elite performers such as Al-Wasl’s naturalized forward Fabio de Lima, Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club sensation Harib Abdalla, and historic 85-goal Al-Jazira marksman Ali Mabkhout hint at better times after the ignominy of last January’s humbling group-stage exit at the Arabian Gulf Cup.

Yet, this month’s deflating 1-0 friendly reversal to unfancied Oman makes predictions of deep progress a tremulous undertaking.

Here, Arab News looks at the Whites’ major issues and key men ahead of Sunday’s Group C opener against Hong Kong at Khalifa International Stadium.

Bento’s big challenge

Ambitions – and expectations – swell when the UAE compete at Asian Cups.

Abdulrahman, Khalil, and Mabkhout electrified Australian crowds at the 2015 running under Mahdi Ali. A measured approach from Alberto Zaccheroni on home soil four-years later, also, dragged them to the last four.

This edition’s intriguing pool contains inviting clashes with Hong Kong and Palestine, plus a bellwether trial versus Iran. Quarterfinals look to be the minimum expectation from there for the AFC’s eighth highest-ranked competitor (64) by FIFA.

Pre-tournament standing as a dark horse has, on the surface, been strengthened by the UAE’s narrow miss for World Cup 2022. Slender fourth-round disappointment to heavyweights Australia, however, under Rodolfo Arruabarrena was illusionary.

Their curious campaign contained five permanent head coach appointments. It was also run alongside consecutive opening-round departures at the 24th and 25th Gulf Cups, plus consequential 5-0 quarter-final elimination by Qatar at the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup which ultimately put paid to Bert van Marwijk’s second spell in charge since March 2019.

Contrasting tactics and philosophies confused minds. Bento’s opening test has been to generate clarity after July’s appointment on a contract until December 2026.

A possession-based system has been successfully applied within the 4-2-3-1 formation ubiquitous in Emirati football. Bento’s debut 4-1 thrashing of Keylor Navas’ Costa Rica in September provided ignition, ahead of the accelerator being pressed for World Cup 2026 qualifying’s supreme opening in November against Nepal (4-0) and Bahrain (2-0).

Culture was key to Bento’s record five-year stint with South Korea. Superstars such as Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae were treated in the same fashion as lesser lights.

This meritocracy has continued with the UAE and, critically, appears to have received similar buy-in.

Mabkhout – the sole extant talisman from the preceding Golden Generation – netted a brace from the start versus Nepal, yet would score off the bench at Bahrain when a different starting 11 was required.

Further commitment from a promising squad is key to hopes of advancement this winter.

Fresh faces for new quest

Bento’s bold selection has echoed Roberto Mancini’s clean slate with Saudi Arabia, rather than the status quo chosen by Tintin Marquez for holders – and hosts – Qatar.

Key men De Lima and Caio Canedo, of Al-Wasl, did not even hold UAE passports at the previous Asian Cup. Mabkhout, Al-Ain goalkeeper Khalid Essa, Al-Jazira center-back Khalifa Al-Hammadi, club-mate Ali Khaseif, and Al-Wasl midfielder Ali Salmeen are the only survivors from the matchday squad beaten 4-0 by Qatar in those semis.

Pride of Abu Dhabi full-backs Abdulla Idrees and Zayed Sultan have been entrusted to provide fresh impetus. Fellow Al-Jazira performer Abdullah Ramadan adds further drive in midfield and ample star quality.

Enviable options in attack see the aforementioned Mabkhout, De Lima, Canedo, and Abdalla supplemented by the likes of 23-year-old Al-Wasl skipper Ali Saleh and a maturing Yahya Al-Ghassani of ADNOC Pro League champions Shabab Al-Ahli.

It is not, however, a perfect picture for Bento.

Question marks remain

For all the beguiling exuberance of Abdulrahman and punishing lethality of Mabkhout, granite defending was just as crucial in 2015 and 2019.

Exemplary rear-guard actions dumped out champions Japan and Australia at the quarter-final stages of both.

No replacements have subsequently emerged for center-back warriors Ismail Ahmed and Mohanad Salem, despite the polar qualities of Khalifa Al-Hammadi and Al-Jazira partner Mohammed Al-Attas. This also applies in defensive midfield where the retired Khamis Esmail casts a long shadow.

Spines of the 2015 and 2019 selections were drawn from Al-Ahli and Al-Ain club sides who made AFC Champions League finals. Years of underwhelming performances in that competition, however, denies this roster similarly fortifying experiences.

Recent Gulf Cup, Arab Cup, and World Cup qualifying failures make doubts arise, despite obvious talent. It is up to Bento and his players to positively answer them.

Prediction

It is important to quantify which staging post Bento’s UAE are currently at.

Only six months have passed since his hire. Just four squad members hold more than 50 caps, while De Lima and Mabkhout are the solitary players with international goals counted in double figures.

The Asian Cup’s generous Group C offers the chance to build momentum enough to prevail against likely round-of-16-opponents China. From there, a football miracle is required to continue the journey past a Japan who have downed Peru, Germany, Turkiye, Canada, and Tunisia in their current 10-match winning streak.

Valiant defeat versus Samurai Blue would represent failure to replicate prior semi-final runs but should solidify belief in Bento’s methods ahead of the defining quest for a World Cup return.


Man City seek to end mini-slump as Liverpool soar

Updated 10 sec ago
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Man City seek to end mini-slump as Liverpool soar

  • Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have become so accustomed to success that three straight defeats feels like a major crisis
  • Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of his final game as interim manager of Manchester United and winless Wolves play fellow strugglers Southampton

LONDON: Injury-hit Manchester City are desperate to snap their losing streak in their final Premier League game before the international break as Chelsea aim to deepen Arsenal’s misery.

Elsewhere in the English top flight, Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of his final game as interim manager of Manchester United and winless Wolves play fellow strugglers Southampton.

Here are some of the key talking points ahead of the action this weekend.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have become so accustomed to success that three straight defeats feels like a major crisis.

Last week City, who face Brighton on Saturday, were ousted from the League Cup by Tottenham.

Their 32-match unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end at Bournemouth before Sporting Lisbon beat them 4-1 in the Champions League — ending another long unbeaten stretch.

Guardiola’s men, gunning for a fifth consecutive Premier League title, are just two points behind league leaders Liverpool but will be wary of losing further ground.

Midfielder Bernardo Silva says the club’s multiple injury worries are not an excuse for their poor form but he admits the international break, which starts after the weekend, comes at a good time.

“At the moment with the injuries that we have and the psychological part as well, it will be good to have that rest, but before that we have a big game again,” he said.

One positive for City in their defeat to Sporting was the return of Kevin De Bruyne, who came on as a late substitute after seven weeks out of action.

If results go against them, Arsenal could find themselves eighth in the Premier League by the time they kick off against London rivals Chelsea on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s men have picked up just one point from their past three league games and lost their midweek Champions League clash against Inter Milan 1-0.

Arteta was upbeat despite the defeat at the San Siro, where captain Martin Odegaard made a welcome return to action after being absent since late August.

But defeat against in-form Chelsea plus a win for Liverpool would leave Arsenal, runners-up in each of the past two seasons, 10 points off top spot.

Thierry Henry said on CBS Sports that if Liverpool and City win at the weekend and Arsenal lose, his former side could be out of the title race.

“It would be extremely difficult because you (would) have too many teams to catch... I don’t see two teams collapsing,” he said.

Arne Slot has won 14 of his first 16 games in charge of Liverpool in all competitions.

The club had a relatively kind fixture list at the start of the season but they show no signs of letting up — taking seven points from games against Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton in recent weeks and boasting a perfect record in the Champions League.

Liverpool have also beaten two Premier League teams, West Ham and Brighton, on their way to the League Cup quarter-finals.

Former Feyenoord boss Slot brushed off a question about whether he was finding his new job “easy” after Liverpool’s thumping 4-0 win against German champions Bayer Leverkusen this week.

“Every team that plays against us is in the top of their game,” he said. “And if you want to win that, you always have to be consistent in your intensity, and that’s not always easy but that is what’s needed.”

Liverpool have a tough run of fixtures coming up, starting with Aston Villa at home on Saturday, but so far they have proved they have what it takes.

Fixtures

Saturday (1500 GMT unless stated)

Brentford vs. Bournemouth, Crystal Palace v Fulham, West Ham vs. Everton, Wolves vs. Southampton, Brighton v Manchester City (1730), Liverpool vs. Aston Villa (2000)

Sunday (1400 unless stated)

Manchester Utd vs. Leicester, Nottingham Forest vs. Newcastle, Tottenham vs. Ipswich, Chelsea vss. Arsenal (1630)


Bucks snap losing streak with Jazz rout

Updated 13 min 42 sec ago
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Bucks snap losing streak with Jazz rout

  • Lillard rattled in four three-pointers and shot 12-of-22 from the field en route to his third straight 30-point game to help Milwaukee claim only their second win
  • Minnesota Timberwolves scored a 135-119 blowout of the Chicago Bulls on the road while the San Antonio Spurs proved too strong for Portland Trail Blazers, winning 118-105

LOS ANGELES: Damian Lillard scored 34 points as the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a run of six straight defeats to bag their first home win of the season with a 123-100 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday.

Lillard rattled in four three-pointers and shot 12-of-22 from the field en route to his third straight 30-point game to help Milwaukee claim only their second win since a season-opening defeat of the Philadelphia 76ers last month.

Giannis Antetokounmpo added 31 points with 16 rebounds while Bobby Portis bagged 19 off the bench as Milwaukee clinched a badly needed victory after a miserable start to the campaign.

The 2021 NBA champions started the game with a 1-6 record that has left them one place off the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Utah looked ready to compound Milwaukee’s problems after taking a 61-57 half-time lead at the Fiserv Forum.

But the Bucks finally clicked into gear with a devastating third-quarter performance, outscoring Utah 31-16 to build what turned out to be an insurmountable lead as they finally gave their home fans something to cheer about.

“It feels great,” Lillard said. “Getting off to a rough start, it’s easy to get down on yourself and start to panic a little bit and worry.

“Tonight we just came out with the right mentality. They hit some threes, but we stuck with it, shared the ball and finally we caught our stride and take over the game.

“We just got to be able to use this as momentum going forward.”

In other games, the Minnesota Timberwolves scored a 135-119 blowout of the Chicago Bulls on the road while the San Antonio Spurs proved too strong for the Portland Trail Blazers, winning 118-105.

In Chicago, Anthony Edwards sparked the Timberwolves to a come-from-behind win, scoring 33 points including five three-pointers with eight rebounds and six assists.

Chicago had dominated for long periods, leading the game from early in the first quarter until midway through the fourth.

But Minnesota erupted to devastating effect in the final period, turning the game on its head after outscoring Chicago 45-24 to cruise home.

Six Timberwolves players finished in double figures, with Julius Randle delivering 22 points and Rudy Gobert adding 21 points.

French international Gobert saluted Edwards’ decisive contribution.

“Every year his playmaking has got better and better and now this is the year where I feel like he’s really able to see what’s happening on the floor,” Gobert said.

“It’s just on me to get him open or get open myself and finish the play.”

Nikola Vucevic led Chicago’s scorers with 25 points, with Coby White adding 24.

In San Antonio, eight Spurs players tallied double-digit points totals in a victory over Portland.

San Antonio took to the floor once again without the presence of legendary head coach Gregg Popovich, who was taken ill last weekend with an unspecified health issue.


Maccabi Tel Aviv fans clash with reported pro-Palestinian protesters at Ajax Europa League match

Updated 11 min 2 sec ago
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Maccabi Tel Aviv fans clash with reported pro-Palestinian protesters at Ajax Europa League match

  • Israel’s PM aware of ‘very violent incident’ against Israelis in Amsterdam
  • Netanyahu directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist citizens there

AMSTERDAM: Supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv clashed with apparent pro-Palestinian protesters before and after a Europa League soccer match between their team and Ajax outside the Dutch team’s home stadium in Amsterdam on Thursday night, media and officials said.
The clashes reportedly erupted despite a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration imposed by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, who had feared that clashes would break out between protesters and supporters of the Israeli soccer club.
Details of the incidents remained unclear, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been informed of the details of “a very violent incident” targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam, his office said on Friday.
He directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist citizens there, it added in a statement.
Israel’s national security ministry has also urged its citizens in Amsterdam to stay in their hotel rooms following the attacks, the prime minister’s office said in a second statement.
“Fans who went to see a football game, encountered anti-Semitism and were attacked with unimaginable cruelty just because of their Jewishness and Israeliness,” Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a post on X.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu also called his Dutch counterpart about them.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens arrive safely at the airport, Saar told his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp in a phone call on Friday.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also condemned the violence in a post on the social media platform X.
There were no immediate reports of arrests or injuries from the clashes outside the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, the city’s main arena and Ajax’s home stadium. Ajax won the Europa League match 5-0 after leading 3-0 at halftime.

 


Peru arrests the country's football boss as part of a criminal investigation into fraud

Updated 08 November 2024
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Peru arrests the country's football boss as part of a criminal investigation into fraud

  • Agustin Lozano is the second Peruvian football boss to be detained since 2018
  • Prosecutors said football boss and others tried to wrest lucrative broadcast rights from Peru's first division soccer teams

LIMA, Peru: Peruvian police arrested the head of the country's football federation Thursday as part of an investigation into allegations that he abused his position to extort local clubs into ceding their television rights.

Agustin Lozano is the second Peruvian football boss to be detained since 2018 when his predecessor was investigated for his alleged role in two murders for which he was later absolved.

Lozano was escorted handcuffed into a police vehicle outside his home in the capital, Lima, as several journalists stood by. He promised to clear up any misunderstanding and asked that the public reserve judgements.

Six other people connected to the suspected conspiracy were also arrested.

Prosecutors, in a 140-page court filing seeking Lozano's arrest, said the football boss and others tried to wrest lucrative broadcast rights from Peru's first division soccer teams. Clubs that didn't cede control were threatened with being relegated from the top tier of Peru's soccer clubs, according to the document obtained by The Associated Press.

Lozano is also suspected of illegally spending $1.8 million in federation funds to transport 142 people not associated with the football organization to Doha in 2022 for a playoff match between Peru and Australia to see which side qualified for the World Cup in Qatar that year, according to the court filing.

A prosecutor overseeing the case told local radio that Lozano had been under investigation for over a year. Although he has not been criminally charged, authorities ordered his arrest because they deemed he is a flight risk and could obstruct their investigation.

Lozano has had run-ins with the law before. In 2023, prosecutors sought his arrest as part of an embezzlement investigation from his days as mayor of the northern city of Chongoyape.

Under Lozano's leadership, Peru's national football team is in second to last place among South American men's teams seeking to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.


Pakistan win toss, bowl in 2nd ODI against Australia

Updated 08 November 2024
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Pakistan win toss, bowl in 2nd ODI against Australia

  • The hosts lead 1-0 after a tense two-wicket win in Melbourne on Monday
  • Pakistan named unchanged side with fast bowler Naseem Shah declared fit

ADELAIDE: Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan won the toss and opted to bowl in the second of a three-game one-day series against Australia in Adelaide on Friday.

The hosts lead 1-0 after a tense two-wicket win in Melbourne on Monday.

Pakistan named an unchanged side with fast bowler Naseem Shah declared fit after leaving the field during the first match, apparently with cramp.

Australia made one change with veteran Josh Hazlewood returning in place of Sean Abbott to join his long-time pace partners Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.

Jake Fraser-McGurk and Matt Short again open the batting in the absence of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head and will be keen to make their mark after falling cheaply in the opening match.

Teams

Australia: Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Aaron Hardie, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

Pakistan: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan (capt), Kamran Ghulam, Agha Salman, Irfan Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain