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The scientific and research team behind the Historical Dictionary will continue their diligent work in collaboration with the Arabic Language Academy in the emirate
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The world now ‘knows about Al Ahli Club’
DUBAI — After acquiring one of the greatest defensive players of all time, Dubai’s Al Ahli Club are now confident of matching the rivals blow for blow in the new season of the UAE Pro-league.
Al Ahli, who had won the league in the 2008-09 season, failed to live up the expectations as their hopes of defending the title turned into despair. They finished eighth in the league in the 2009-2010 season.
The Red Knights were determined to revive the hopes and they soon hit the headlines when they unveiled Italy’s World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro as the new Al Ahli player recently.
The management of the Dubai club is now convinced that the presence of a world class star will only enhance their position in UAE football.
“It’s definitely a big advantage for us that we have a player like Cannavaro. Now the world knows about Al Ahli. All the eyes will be on our team,” said Ahmed Hameed, CEO of the club, during the draw ceremony of the UAE Pro-league on Thursday.
“But I don’t that it is going to put a big pressure on us. During the pre-season preparations, we have taken care of that. After all, we are one of the big clubs of the country,” he added.
Ahmed Hameed, however, admitted that he would have liked to play the opening match of the new season at home (Al Ahli will travel to Al Dhafra for their first UFL match in August).
“Yeah, we wished to play the first match at home. But we have to play Dhafra away and we have to accept it. There are 12 teams in the league and we are ready to play the away matches. If we want to win the league, we have to win the away matches as well.”
Well, Al Ahli failed to win matches on a regular basis in the 2009-2010 season. They are now keen to erase the painful memories of that miserable season.
“It’s a new season now. But winning the league is not really our goal at the moment. We finished eighth last time so our aim will be to do better this season. We wish to finish in the top four in the league. This is the first year with a new coach (David O’Leary) and some new players. So we have to be realistic.
“We also have got new people in the management. There are many things that the club want to do. But we are not in a hurry. So our main aim would be to do better than what we did last season.”
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