Trying to put into context a shocking result involving a sports superpower. Al Ahli 6, Al Ain 3 … in the UAE domestic soccer league. The Crimson Tide of Bear Bryant or Nick Saban being routed by, say, South Carolina. The Man United of Alex Ferguson going down heavily to Stoke. That is like Al […]

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Insults are a serious matter, here in the UAE. Walter Zenga can vouch for that. His wallet is 2,000 dirhams lighter because he indulged himself in a fit of pique aimed at a local reporter. The UAE is one of the handful of places in the world where a major sports figure can insult a […]

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We Americans living in the UAE often are asked, by friends and relatives back home: “Isn’t it dangerous?”

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I’ve seen a lot of soccer, over the past 25 years. From AYSO to the World Cup. Hundreds of matches. Maybe a thousand. But I still do not know this game in the way that someone who grew up playing and watching it does. I don’t know soccer like I do baseball, basketball, (American) football, […]

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He came, he saw, he stunk it up. If anyone has the Latin for that (after the veni, vidi part) … feel free to pass it along. Diego Maradona‘s first season as a coach in the UAE came to an ignominious end on June 10 when his Al Wasl team blew a 3-1 lead after […]

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Sharjah FC is one of the UAE’s most storied soccer franchises. The club won the first domestic title in the history of the UAE, in the pre-history of 1974, and added four more after. They also have won eight President’s Cups, the second-biggest prize in domestic football, and those eight are the biggest total among […]

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The most successful soccer club in the country is Al Ain FC, which happens to be located in the UAE’s version of suburbia, Al Ain City. Al Ain FC secured its 10th league title tonight in a 2-0 spanking of Al Jazira, the defending champions, who couldn’t be bothered to play hard. And UAE suburbia […]

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The level of soccer in the UAE is often denigrated by the sport’s local cognoscenti.Both foreign and domestic. They seem to believe it should compare to top European leagues, which is unrealistic given that each team is limited to four expatriates, and the rest of the squad comes from an Emirati male population of about […]

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Something about Diego Maradona prompts people to break into song. Late last year, an Irish group named the Corrigan Brothers recirculated a song they had done a few years earlier entitled: Ooohhh Diego. Now, some Emiratis and fans of the UAE club that El Diego coaches, Al Wasl, have an Arabic-language tribute song entitled Maradona […]

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Five years ago I might have watched consecutive baseball games on television. Or consecutive basketball games.Today and yesterday … I watched consecutive soccer games, on TV. Involving UAE teams. Teams I didn’t know existed three years ago. It’s my job. More or less. I wasn’t covering any of these games. But even if I’m not […]

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