ABU DHABI // Al Wahda will be without both their key striker Fernando Baiano and Haider Ali, their captain, for their Club World Cup fifth-place play-off with Pachuca tonight.
Magrao, Baiano's Brazilian compatriot, has also been ruled out of the game against the North American champions at Zayed Sports City.
The loss of Baiano in particular will be a big blow for Josef Hickersberger, the Wahda coach.
The former Internacional striker is the club's top scorer and has netted twice for the Pro League champions in the Club World Cup.
Ali has been ruled out for four weeks with a hamstring injury he suffered on Saturday against Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, the Asian champions.
"It is not my strategy to give everyone an opportunity at this level of competition," Hickersberger said after the team's training at the Al Nahyan stadium last night.
"I have to find solutions for the injured players and we don't have many options at the moment. It has been very hard on the players as we will be playing our third game in a week. And these are games that are very tough and physically demanding.
"There are also questions of fitness in this squad because we have some players who can't play 90 minutes. Baiano, Magrao and Haider are first-choice players but I can't say we are better even with them against a team like Pachuca.
"Pachuca were unlucky against TP Mazembe and for them they would also want to go out of the competition on a high after losing the first game.
"They have strong attacking forwards led by Dario Cvitanich and Edgar Benitez, and an excellent playmaker, Alejandro Manso, and as a team, they have a very good understanding."
Hickersberger has left naming the line-up until today, but he is likely to bring in Saeed al Kathiri in place of Baiano, and start with Abdulraheem Jumaa and Mohammed al Shehhi in midfield.
He may also use Modibi Diarra, the Ivorian forward, at some stage of the game. Diarra has not played since making two appearances at the start of the domestic season when he was replaced by Hugo, the Brazilian midfielder, as one of Wahda's allocation of three foreign players.
Keeping Baiano out of tonight's game may mean Wahda are saving their top scorer for an important Pro League match on Sunday against second-placed Baniyas.
Wahda began the Club World Cup with a 3-0 win over Hekari United, the Oceania champions, before Seongnam beat them 4-1 in the quarter-finals.
"It is important to recover from that defeat," Hickersberger said. "It is not only the defeat, but the manner in which we lost. I didn't expect to lose in such a way, with so many mistakes, particularly in the defence.
"Against Pachuca, firstly we must try and take control of the game. We don't want to repeat the mistakes we did in the previous game.
"It has been good to play at this level but we must also be practical and look at the teams we are playing against."
apassela@thenational.ae
5pm, Aljazeera Sport +2
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UAE SQUAD
Omar Abdulrahman (Al Hilal), Ali Khaseif, Ali Mabkhout, Salem Rashed, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Zayed Al Ameri, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Khalid Essa, Ahmed Barman, Ryan Yaslam, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmin (Al Wasl), Adel Al Hosani, Ali Hassan Saleh, Majed Suroor (Sharjah), Ahmed Khalil, Walid Abbas, Majed Hassan, Ismail Al Hammadi (Shabab Al Ahli), Hassan Al Muharrami, Fahad Al Dhahani (Bani Yas), Mohammed Al Shaker (Ajman)
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
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John Heminway, Knopff
Super Saturday results
4pm: Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 | US$350,000 | (Dirt) | 1,200m
Winner: Drafted, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer).
4.35pm: Al Bastakiya Listed | $300,000 | (D) | 1,900m
Winner: Divine Image, Brett Doyle, Charlie Appleby.
5.10pm: Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 | $350,000 | (Turf) | 1,200m
Winner: Blue Point, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar Group 3 | $350,000 | (D) | 1,600m
Winner: Muntazah, Jim Crowley, Doug Watson.
6.20pm: Dubai City of Gold Group 2 | $300,000 | (T) | 2,410m
Winner: Old Persian, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 Group 1 | $600,000 | (D) | 2,000m
Winner: Capezzano, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer.
7.30pm: Jebel Hatta Group 1 | $400,000 | (T) | 1,800m
Winner: Dream Castle, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
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LA LIGA FIXTURES
Thursday (All UAE kick-off times)
Sevilla v Real Betis (midnight)
Friday
Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)
Valencia v Levante (midnight)
Saturday
Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)
Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)
Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)
Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)
Sunday
Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)
Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)
Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
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Rating: 5/5
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Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
The biog
Alwyn Stephen says much of his success is a result of taking an educated chance on business decisions.
His advice to anyone starting out in business is to have no fear as life is about taking on challenges.
“If you have the ambition and dream of something, follow that dream, be positive, determined and set goals.
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Mr Stephen sells his luxury fragrances at selected perfumeries around the UAE, including the House of Niche Boutique in Al Seef.
He relaxes by spending time with his family at home, and enjoying his wife’s India cooking.
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Company%20profile
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Excel Entertainment & Tiger Baby
Cast: Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi
Rating: 4/5 stars