Ahead of the start to the 2015/16 Arabian Gulf League season, The National will preview the fortunes for each of the UAE's 14 top-flight clubs. Here, Paul Oberjuerge looks at last season's cup double winners, Al Nasr.
Outlook
The nation’s oldest club are coming off their best season in more than two decades. They ended a 25-year domestic-trophy drought by capturing the Arabian Gulf Cup in January, then topped that by beating Al Ahli in a shoot-out to win the President’s Cup in June, as Nasr fans wept in joy at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.
The Dubai side added a fifth-place finish in the league, one slot short of a chance to qualifying for group play in the Asian Champions League.
The accomplishments were a tribute to the organisational skills of Ivan Jovanovic, the Serbian coach who in 2012 led Apoel of Cyprus to the final eight of the Uefa Champions League.
Nasr fans will be trusting to the instincts of Jovanovic and club officials after the club changed out three of their four expatriates. The tempestuous forward Ibrahima Toure, the league’s second-leading scorer, was exiled and forward Pablo Hernandez and midfielder Brett Holman, the team’s spiritual leader, were released.
The club believe they have improved themselves by recruiting Nilmar, a former Brazil international striker, and two men who have proven themselves in the league, the former Al Ahli No 10 Luis Jimenez and the former Al Jazira winger Jonathan Pitroipa.
The club retained two important Emirati players, the compact midfielder Tariq Ahmed, now the club captain, and the goalkeeper Ahmed Shambieh, who has at times been invited to join the national team.
Foreign quartet
Renan Garcia: The Brazilian defender, 29, appeared in every league match for Nasr last season and was a steady presence in the middle of the pitch. He had a rough time in the Super Cup, but Jovanovic will expect better going forward.
Luis Jimenez: He scored 13 goals in his debut season with Ahli, but fell off to six last season. He seems to be playing deeper with Nasr, and will take free kicks around the goal.
Nilmar: He has the credentials – Villarreal, Lyon, Internacional in his native Brazil – and goals at every stop, including eight in 23 matches for his national side. He is not a target man, as Toure and Luca Toni were for Nasr, and he may need time to find himself.
Jonathan Pitroipa: The speedy winger had good moments with Jazira, and he seemed comfortable in the Super Cup match last week. He is best at driving up the right flank and crossing to more dependable scorers.
Key Emirati players
That Tariq Ahmed has not been a member of Mahdi Ali’s national team is a bit of a mystery; the bustling midfielder wins the ball and distributes it well. Ahmed Shambieh is a solid goalkeeper, and midfielder Jamaal Maroof showed he knows how to finish when he scored in the Super Cup. Ahmed Ibrahim and Esam Dhahi have been usually dependable fixtures in the back four.
Manager
Ivan Jovanovic, the white-haired, 53-year-old Serb, played 20 years as a midfielder in Serbia and Greece, and has coached mostly in Greece and Cyprus before Nasr brought him in two years ago. He will need to show his side can score without the target man Toure presented, as well as integrate the new men into the side.
The National verdict
Is this a team on the rise, or was 2014/15 a fluke season for a club without the spending power of opponents like Al Ahli, Al Ain and Al Jazira? Much depends on Nilmar, a proven scorer who seemed lost in the Super Cup. A successful season for Nasr will end with a top-four finish; if things go a little sidewise, they could drift down in the table.
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Jawan
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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SPECS
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If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.
Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.
Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.
“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.
The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.
“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.
“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
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Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
TOUR RESULTS AND FIXTURES
June 3: NZ Provincial Barbarians 7 Lions 13
June 7: Blues 22 Lions 16
June 10: Crusaders 3 Lions 12
June 13: Highlanders 23 Lions 22
June 17: Maori All Blacks 10 Lions 32
June 20: Chiefs 6 Lions 34
June 24: New Zealand 30 Lions 15
June 27: Hurricanes 31 Lions 31
July 1: New Zealand 21 Lions 24
July 8: New Zealand v Lions
SQUADS
India
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur
New Zealand
Kane Williamson (captain), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Henry Nicholls, Ish Sodhi, George Worker, Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Adam Milne, Trent Boult
MATCH INFO
Day 2 at the Gabba
Australia 312-1
Warner 151 not out, Burns 97, Labuschagne 55 not out
Pakistan 240
Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52
MATCH INFO
FA Cup final
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
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Astroworld
Travis Scott
Grand Hustle/Epic/Cactus Jack