Being an Al Ahli fan, I rarely heap praise on any aspect of any club across the great divide that is the Dubai Creek, but I feel compelled to talk about the underachieving Al Wasl team at the turn of the 21st century, and one outstanding player in…

Legendary ambassadors for the country, the United Arab Emirates football team embarked on a fairy-tale journey into football history by qualifying for the FIFA World Cup in 1990. Facing formidable sides such as eventual winners West Germany, a dynamic Yugoslavia and the Rene Higuita-inspired Colombians, the UAE side…

Ali Daei, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Vahid Hashemian and Ali Karimi have undoubtedly been the most successful Iranian footballing exports to Europe, and shone when playing for their respective clubs across the continent. With the World Cup fast approaching, many fans may be unaware of the talent already present in…

2010 was shaping up to be a tough year for Iranian football. The national team had embarrassingly failed to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa under the tutelage of the legendary Ali Daei – sacked after an unthinkable 2-1 home defeat to perennial rivals Saudi…

I’ll always cherish my playing days at school, growing up in Dubai. Being part of a primarily expatriate college, we found it fascinating to play football against schools from across the country that we had never heard of.  Teams would show up (often hours late) to our unevenly…

I wrote this back in 2008, and it remains one of my most intriguing matchday experiences. At the time I was living in Vienna and Austria were to take on a Serbian side including Branislav Ivanovic, Milos Krasic and Dejan Stankovic in a FIFA 2010 World Cup Qualifier.…

United Arab Bank (UAB), the fastest growing bank in the UAE, yesterday announced its association with one of the world’s leading football clubs, FC Barcelona. The landmark alliance confirms UAB as FC Barcelona’s ‘Official Partner in the UAE’ and places the bank as the first and exclusive financial…

You know you’re bored at a football match when you start delving into the slow demise of Stockport County from the Championship to the depths of the Skrill Conference North. Struggling with the intense humidity and total lack of action 30 minutes in to the 2013 Arabian Gulf…