Emboldened by Al Ahli last year, and even Al Ain before that, the UAE’s representatives enter the 2016 Asian Champions League this week with ambitions of an extended run across the continent.
Al Ain, Al Nasr, Al Jazira. Three sides embarking on the group stages, three sides seeking to emulate and then improve upon the Ahli of 2015, or the Al Ain of 2014.
One runners-up as recently as three months ago, the other semi-finalists the previous season; each helping UAE clubs believe that little bit more, each making the impossible feel possible.
For Emirati teams, prolonged passages through Asia’s premier club competition had in recent times proved elusive, the route rocky, the campaign curtailed by a stumble along the groups, or at best concluded come the first knockout round.
Read more: Al Ain, Al Jazira and Al Nasr in Asian Champions League – Everything you need to know
The statistics did not make for pleasant reading. Between 2008 and 2013, beginning as UAE football entered its professional era, only three clubs from the Emirates – Al Jazira, Baniyas and Al Shabab – survived beyond the group stages. All three bowed out at the very next hurdle.
Then Al Ain and Jazira clashed in the last 16 of the 2014 tournament, with Al Ain striding past the quarter-finals and into the semis.
There, they exited, beaten and bruised, by Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal. But progress had been made.
Then last year, Al Ain again advanced from the group, again as group winners, again accompanied by a compatriot. For Ahli, this was a first taste of the knockout stages at the sixth attempt, the Dubai club having narrowly escaped their group in the last few minutes of the last round of fixtures. After defeating Al Ain in the next round, Ahli lasted all the way to the final.
So what appeared infinitely elusive now seems wholly attainable. Finally, UAE clubs can look forward to the Asian Champions League, no longer tormented by excursions to Iran, Uzbekistan or Saudi, no longer cowed by the expectation of failure.
But what of the 2016 crew? Al Ain, Nasr, Jazira. Three clubs with aspirations of qualification and beyond, yet three clubs who, given their current state, should perhaps concentrate solely on progressing from their respective pools. No doubt that forms their primary objective.
At the moment, the trio cannot claim to be of vintage stock: Al Ain have new foreign players still settling; Nasr lack an obvious goalscoring threat; Jazira have only just begun to climb from a domestic malaise.
Thus getting through the groups will be – it must be – the sole target. Overcome that, and then the two-legged last-16 tie, and a whole raft of possibilities opens. Come summer, clubs can display more ambition, recruit more aggressively.
Requiring a striker of genuine quality last July, Ahli signed Rodrigo Lima, whose goals fired his side to the final against Guangzhou Evergrande. He remains one of the continent’s finest; it remains especially regrettable that his team did not qualify for this year’s tournament. Undeniably, Ahli would offer the UAE’s best hope of a repeat.
However, Ahli’s compatriots are right to feel emboldened by what the Dubai club achieved in 2015. Even if 2016, initially at least, does not promise as much.
jmcauley@thenational.ae
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UAE Falcons
Carly Lewis (captain), Emily Fensome, Kelly Loy, Isabel Affley, Jessica Cronin, Jemma Eley, Jenna Guy, Kate Lewis, Megan Polley, Charlie Preston, Becki Quigley and Sophie Siffre. Deb Jones and Lucia Sdao – coach and assistant coach.
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Tell Me Who I Am
Director: Ed Perkins
Stars: Alex and Marcus Lewis
Four stars
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
Race card for Super Saturday
4pm: Al Bastakiya Listed US$250,000 (Dh918,125) (Dirt) 1,900m.
4.35pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,200m.
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Conditions $200,000 (Turf) 1,200m.
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 $200,000 (D) 1,600m.
6.20pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 $300,000 (T) 1,800m.
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 $400,000 (D) 2,000m.
7.30pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 $250,000 (T) 2,410m.
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Fixtures:
Wed Aug 29 – Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore
Thu Aug 30 - UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman
Sat Sep 1 - UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal
Sun Sep 2 – Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore
Tue Sep 4 - Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu Sep 6 – Final
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The five pillars of Islam
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