Sparky’s Column

Touchline Trauma

David Trezeguet has called time on his brief stay at Bani Yas. The persistent muscle injury which dogged him pre season has finally caught up with the Frenchman. He was honourable enough to cancel his contract rather than sit the season out on the sidelines, which if we are honest would have been all too easy for some players. It's such a shame that a player of that calibre has not been able to shine. Injury is something that catches up with most players in their thirties and the World Cup winner is no the exception. Bani Yas to their credit  have rode out the rough period to secure three victories and are starting to look like the team of last year.   

 

I watched the Al Ain v Al Wasl game Saturday night. I can't claim to be anywhere near fluent in Arabic but I could count the number of times Maradona was mentioned in the commentary. It was six in ten minutes and he only moved about ten paces in the technical area, the obsession shows no sign of letting up. That being said the man himself is not one to keep a low profile, his post match rant was up there with his best.  He accused the Al Ain bench being disrepectful when they celebrated the winning goal. In the press conference he urged the FA to act or he would look at legal action. I wonder if the immediacy of the  post match press conference is a little too soon for some managers. The amount of times comments are taken out of context or serve to inflame an already tense situation are well documented. The angry exchange would not have been helped by what was happening back in Argentina with his Mother hospitalised. All these factors led to the explosive mix that prompted the post match outburst. My Grandad always said act in haste repent at leisure, he had a point but sadly for Diego he wasn't his Grandfather 

 

This week see's the UAE take to the field to compete with the worlds best, I say field but sand is the surface. It's the  Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup at JBR, Dubai. If ever a place was made for beach football then it's Dubai and the UAE team have the advantage of plenty of the stuff to play on. The young footballers here love to play barefoot so it is made for the country to excel. I expect a good performance from the home nation but they will have their work cut out to beat current World Champions who are believe it or not Russia!  Maybe you don't have to live on the beach after all to play.