Ah, Quique Sanchez Flores. Here we are on Day 2 of My Favorite Soccer Coaches Roundup, which includes a certain Spanish player and coach who grew up wanting to be a sports writer. But more about that in a bit. I have been a fan of Quique Sanchez Flores from the moment he was named […]

[Read more →]

During six years following the sports scene in the United Arab Emirates, I often returned to one question: Why does Dubai not have a big stadium? Dubai has hundreds of big buildings, including the world’s tallest. Dubai loves big buildings. Much of its reputation is based on big buildings, and that skyline of skyscrapers. But […]

[Read more →]

Abu Dhabi hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) for the first time this year, on Friday last. April 29, that is, as reported in The National. And the seemingly eternal summer of the Persian Gulf is under way. And how do we feel about that?

[Read more →]

President Barack Obama travels to Saudi Arabia this week for talks with the most powerful nation on the Arabian Peninsula, the hosts, but the American president also plans to meet with other regional officials from the Gulf Cooperation Council. The GCC includes the UAE, and Obama may for a moment wonder why the Emirati president […]

[Read more →]

It can be jarring or amusing to do a bit of investigation on the “flavor” of potato chips, while traveling the world. In the U.S., “original”, barbecue and sour cream-and-onion flavors probably cover about 90 percent of the chips sold. Not so in the rest of the world. In Hong Kong, shrimp-flavored potato chips are […]

[Read more →]

This never was going to be easy but until the Asian Football Confederation draw for the final round of qualifying earlier this week … it didn’t seem quite so daunting. Two groups of six with the top two in each group — following a 10-match home-and-away, round-robin competition — securing a place at Russia 2018. […]

[Read more →]

These next five days are crucial in the history of UAE soccer. What looked like one of the best teams in Asia, a year ago, probably needs to win twice at home — versus Palestine tomorrow and Saudi Arabia on Tuesday — just to make the final round of continental qualifying for the Russia 2018 […]

[Read more →]

Thing about surveys, they can be interpreted in lots of directions. Including one released last week ranking 157 countries of the world on the basis of “happiness.” Denmark is No. 1, sad Burundi of Africa is last. The Reuters story, linked above, seemed keen to fixate on the United States ranking 13th — which actually […]

[Read more →]

Heretofore, “Emirates” was a name American sports fans saw just about only on the jerseys of prominent European soccer teams. Real Madrid. Arsenal. PSG. AC Milan. This season, the logo of the aggressive, Dubai-based airline, will be seen in a baseball stadium for the first time — behind home plate and at the foul poles […]

[Read more →]

Leave it to Lionel Messi to do something that will have soccer fans buzzing for a day or three. In this case, it was a semi-controversial move: A penalty kick that he did not aim at goal, instead knocking it sideways to Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez, who subsequently scored. Some were amazed and giddy at […]

[Read more →]