Surprise Bento dismissal raises questions about rest of UAE World Cup qualifying campaign

Analysis Surprise Bento dismissal raises questions about rest of UAE World Cup qualifying campaign
Sultan Adil celebrates scoring the UAE's late winner against North Korea in Riyadh (X/@UAEFNT)
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Updated 27 March 2025
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Surprise Bento dismissal raises questions about rest of UAE World Cup qualifying campaign

Surprise Bento dismissal raises questions about rest of UAE World Cup qualifying campaign
  • The Whites face Uzbekistan in a hugely important clash in June, needing a win to keep automatic qualification hopes alive

DUBAI: It takes something special to top the drama of a 98th-minute winner which kept UAE dreams of automatic World Cup 2026 qualification alive.

But fewer than eight hours after a bandaged Sultan Adil — in just his second appearance for club or country in 2024-25 — produced a brave diving header in Riyadh to salvage a 2-1 triumph against bottom-placed North Korea, a tweet announced the shock news that Paulo Bento’s tenure had ended abruptly.

“The UAE Football Association has decided to dismiss the head coach of the national team, Portuguese Paulo Bento, and his technical staff,” said @uaefa_ae.

Those few words, with no emotion and a strictly businesslike tone, ended a reign that only began in July 2023.

The hard-fought victory at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium left the UAE third in the third round’s Group A, four points away from a guaranteed return to football’s grandest stage for the first time since 1990 with two fixtures left. Failure to overturn this deficit to second-placed Uzbekistan — their next opponents — in June’s deciders means the team must successfully navigate up to three extra stages.

The question posed by the UAE FA was: “Is this enough?” Their answer — a definitive “no.”

Time will now tell whether this bold call, certainly not without merit, was a correct one.

A clear decision has been made that the 55-year-old, who became South Korea’s longest-serving manager and led Portugal to Euro 2012’s semifinals, was not the man to achieve this goal. Instead, the ninth permanent appointment since Mahdi Ali’s resignation in March 2017 will target this glory.

Bento’s tenure with the Whites featured 14 wins, six draws and six defeats. The nation has not been this close to its second World Cup appearance in several generations.

He will be remembered for successive hammerings of perennial rivals Qatar and being at the helm for the naturalization revolution, where an array of long-serving ADNOC Pro League stars and UAE-born or raised foreign nationals were integrated into selection.

Less-fond memories were created by a 2023 Asian Cup round-of-16 exit on penalties to tournament debutants Tajikistan, or this winter’s winless group-stage exit at the 26th Arabian Gulf Cup.

Performances that were often stodgy and staccato did not help, especially after the introduction of call-ups such as Sharjah forward Caio Lucas, club-mate Marcus Meloni, Fleetwood Town’s Mackenzie Hunt and Al-Ain’s AFC Champions League-winning center-back Kouame Autonne.

This month exemplified the testy relationship forged between Bento and UAE football.

The 2-0 defeat at Tehran’s intimidating Azadi Stadium against heavyweights Iran was not terrible on paper; nor was a characterful late show to prevail against unknown and unfancied North Korea.

Yet the loss to Iran contained a switch to a 5-4-1 formation unfamiliar to most players, in the wake of zero preparatory friendlies, with four-goal Qatar hero Fabio De Lima benched and little time on the training pitch due to a packed club fixture list. Only one effort on target was recorded during a contest elongated by floodlight troubles.

A selection and tactical shake-up into the usual 4-2-3-1 against North Korea produced a frustrating display, in which 69 percent possession and an attempt count weighted 20-7 in the UAE’s favor still bore many similarities to October’s dreary 1-1 draw against the same opponent.

These displays allied with the continued decision to neglect the national team’s record scorer, Ali Mabkhout, and Al-Wasl “Golden Boy” Ali Saleh.

There is a void around what happens next, with pure conjecture defining this nascent state of play in which no outstanding successor has emerged. The vagaries of reviewing external candidates present a tricky but worthwhile task. New names could arise in the coming days and weeks.

The move towards a supremo with domestic experience, reminiscent of the previous World Cup cycle when Rodolfo Arruabarrena replaced Bert van Marwijk, may produce several options.

Can Cosmin Olaroiu, finally, be tempted? A campaign that could yet deliver AFC Champions League Two, President’s Cup and ADNOC Pro League triumphs with Sharjah makes this pursuit complicated.

Paulo Sousa gained brief international exposure with Poland and has been a revelation at a Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Club, who will be loath to lose him.

Milos Milojevic won the President’s Cup and league double with Al-Wasl last term, ending a 17-year wait for local silverware. His second campaign, however, has been strained and at 42 years old he lacks international exposure, unlike Olaroiu at the 2015 Asian Cup with Saudi Arabia.

Argentina great Hernan Crespo is unattached since November’s dismissal from Asian conquerors Al-Ain. A trio of fellow former ADNOC Pro League tacticians seem otherwise engaged, in Kuwait’s Juan Antonio Pizzi (Al-Wasl), Ukraine’s Serhiy Rebrov (Al-Ain) and Greece’s Ivan Jovanovic (Al-Nasr), whose UAE spell was scuppered by the pandemic.

UAE FA leadership chose a dynamic course of action on Wednesday. There were no media leaks about their intentions at any stage; nor were any successors rumored.

This blank slate must be filled in ample time prior to a June which could yet go down in history.


Rajasthan unleash Suryavanshi, 14, as youngest IPL player but lose thriller

Rajasthan unleash Suryavanshi, 14, as youngest IPL player but lose thriller
Updated 53 min 26 sec ago
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Rajasthan unleash Suryavanshi, 14, as youngest IPL player but lose thriller

Rajasthan unleash Suryavanshi, 14, as youngest IPL player but lose thriller
  • Suryavanshi stole the limelight after belting his first ball for six in a much-awaited debut after he was bought for $130,500

JAIPUR: Vaibhav Suryavanshi made an explosive 34 off 20 balls as he became the youngest player in IPL history aged just 14 on Saturday but finished on the losing side as Lucknow Super Giants beat Rajasthan Royals by two runs.
In the first match of the day, England’s Jos Buttler smashed an unbeaten 97 to power Gujarat Titans to the top of the IPL table with a seven-wicket win over Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad’s intense heat.
But it was the evening game that drew eyeballs after Rajasthan turned to Suryavanshi as their impact substitute and he opened the batting alongside India star Yashasvi Jaiswal following Lucknow’s 180-5.
Suryavanshi stole the limelight after belting his first ball for six in a much-awaited debut after he was bought for $130,500 in the November auction when he was still just 13.
Jaiswal and Suryavanshi, who hit three sixes and two fours in an electrifying knock, put on 85 for the first wicket before the youngster was stumped by Rishabh Pant off the bowling of South Africa international Aiden Markram.
Stand-in captain Riyan Parag came in and made 39 but Rajasthan lost their way as he departed shortly after Jaiswal fell for 74.
Avesh Khan dismissed both in the 18th over to turn the match on its head and Rajasthan finished on 178-5 after the Lucknow fast bowler defended nine off the last over to pull off a stunning victory for his team in Jaipur.
“These kind of matches build character,” Lucknow skipper Pant said after his team moved up to fourth in the 10-team table. “It was an amazing win. As a team, this is going to take us to a different level.”
Shimron Hetmyer scored 12 before he fell to Avesh on the third ball of the 20th over and despite David Miller dropping a catch in the deep, Avesh held his nerve with his yorkers and disciplined bowling to return figures of 3-37.
Avesh’s heroics took some of the attention away from Suryavanshi, who was handed his chance after Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson was ruled out due to injury.
He was added as an impact player for the match and then replaced medium-pace bowler Sandeep Sharma in the chase.
The baby-faced Suryavanshi, called “Boss Baby” — a popular animated film — by the TV commentators, impressed in batting with Jaiswal, who recorded his third straight half-century, but their efforts ultimately came in a losing cause.
Earlier, Markram’s 66 and a 50 by impact player Ayush Badoni helped Lucknow set a target of 181 after they elected to bat first.
In the afternoon match, Gujarat rode on Buttler’s 54-ball knock laced with 11 fours and four sixes to achieve their target of 204 with four balls to spare at the world’s biggest cricket stadium.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Buttler and impact substitute Sherfane Rutherford, a left-hand West Indies batter who hit 43, put on a key stand of 119 to steer Gujarat to their fifth win in seven matches and top of the standings
Rutherford fell in the 19th over. Delhi’s left-arm quick Mitchell Starc needed to defend 10 off the final six balls but the left-handed Rahul Tewatia finished off with a six and four.
Buttler, who hit his third half-century of the season, was left three short of a hundred that would have put him level with Virat Kohli’s record eight IPL tons.
Gujarat, who won the IPL in their debut season in 2022, elected to field first on a hot afternoon as the temperature soared above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).
“I think it (heat) takes you by the surprise how draining it is,” said player of the match Buttler.
“I certainly felt that while batting, cramping up and stuff. But that’s part of the game to be fit and be able to perform under pressure in the heat.”
Delhi reached 203-8 but the total could have been more had it not been for four wickets by Gujarat pace bowler Prasidh Krishna, who now leads this season’s bowling chart with 14 scalps.


PSG beat Le Havre to stay on course for unbeaten Ligue 1 season

PSG beat Le Havre to stay on course for unbeaten Ligue 1 season
Updated 19 April 2025
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PSG beat Le Havre to stay on course for unbeaten Ligue 1 season

PSG beat Le Havre to stay on course for unbeaten Ligue 1 season
  • Desire Doue and Goncalo Ramos scored the goals for PSG
  • PSG had already secured a fourth successive Ligue 1 title before this game

PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain stayed on course to complete the Ligue 1 season without losing a game as the Champions League semifinalists beat struggling Le Havre 2-1 on Saturday.
Desire Doue and Goncalo Ramos scored the goals for PSG either side of half-time at the Parc des Princes, as coach Luis Enrique changed almost his entire starting line-up following the midweek European clash with Aston Villa.
PSG had already secured a fourth successive Ligue 1 title before this game, and their 10th consecutive league win leaves them on 77 points with five matches remaining.
No side has ever completed an entire French top-flight campaign unbeaten.
“We knew this game was a potential banana skin for us after a Champions League match which sucked out all our energy and left us feeling tired,” Luis Enrique said.
“All the ingredients were there for this to be a difficult game against a side who were in need of points.”
Achraf Hakimi and Bradley Barcola were the only players to keep their place in the PSG line-up at kick-off, following the 3-2 defeat away to Aston Villa which saw them edge through to the last four of the Champions League and a tie against Arsenal.
Doue gave PSG the lead inside eight minutes, and Ramos made the most of his chance in the starting line-up by making it 2-0 shortly after half-time with his 15th goal this season.
Issa Soumare pulled one back for Le Havre, but the result leaves the Normandy side still in third-bottom spot, the relegation play-off place.
If the title race in France is already over, the fight for European qualification behind PSG is intense, with the next six teams separated by only six points.
Second-placed Monaco drew 0-0 at home to Strasbourg, who are three points behind them in fifth, on a blustery evening in the principality.
Monaco were looking for a seventh successive home win in Ligue 1, but leading scorer Mika Biereth had a goal disallowed for a tight offside call in first-half stoppage time.
They had most of the chances, but Strasbourg had the ball in the net late on too, only for Emanuel Emegha’s effort from close range to also be ruled out for offside.
Liam Rosenior’s Strasbourg are now unbeaten in 10 games and remain hopeful of qualifying for the Champions League — a level the Alsace outfit have not played at since the 1979/80 European Cup.
“I have a group of players who believe they can do it, and I believe they can do it as well,” said Englishman Rosenior, whose side are undefeated since early February.
“Nobody said that this team would be able to do this at the start of the season.
“Ten games unbeaten, and the players are disappointed not to win against Nice (a 2-2 draw last week) and now Monaco, which shows how far we have come in a short space of time.”
Marseille have the chance to move back above Monaco into second with a win at home to doomed bottom side Montpellier later.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille are under pressure on a run of five defeats in their last seven matches, a sequence which has left them at risk of missing out on a return to the Champions League.
Lyon, in fourth, go to derby rivals Saint-Etienne on Sunday looking to bounce back from their agonizing Europa League loss to Manchester United on Thursday.
Lille and Nice, who are now sixth and seventh respectively, also play key games in the fight for Europe on Sunday.
The top three qualify automatically for the Champions League, with fourth going into the preliminary rounds.
Fifth place qualifies for the Europa League and sixth for the Conference League, although there will be an extra Europa League place available via the league should PSG beat Reims in the French Cup final next month.


Raphinha leads Barcelona’s thrilling 4-3 comeback over Celta in La Liga

Raphinha leads Barcelona’s thrilling 4-3 comeback over Celta in La Liga
Updated 19 April 2025
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Raphinha leads Barcelona’s thrilling 4-3 comeback over Celta in La Liga

Raphinha leads Barcelona’s thrilling 4-3 comeback over Celta in La Liga
  • The Brazil forward deserved being singled out for extra praise from Barcelona’s coach
  • He had just led a thrilling 4-3 fightback over Celta Vigo by scoring two late goals

BARCELONA: Hansi Flick ran onto the field on the final whistle and lifted Raphinha off his feet in a bear hug.
The Brazil forward deserved being singled out for extra praise from Barcelona’s coach. He had just led a thrilling 4-3 fightback over Celta Vigo by scoring two late goals including a clutch penalty for an injury-time winner.
Barcelona remained on pace for the Spanish league title as they opened up a seven-point gap over Real Madrid before the defending champion host Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
“It was amazing to see at this stage how this team gives everything to never give up,” Flick said. He added that at halftime he told Raphinha he needed him “as a leader” on the field.
Raphinha’s double let him reach 30 goals in all competitions this season, the best of his career.
Lewandowski injury worry ahead of big games
The loss might come at a price, however. Barcelona top scorer Robert Lewandowski asked to be substituted in the final minutes while touching his left thigh.
“We have to wait until tomorrow,” Flick said.
There is no let up for Barcelona with three titles in play.
Barcelona face Mallorca in the league on Tuesday and Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final next weekend. Four days after that they will start their Champions League semifinal against Inter Milan.
Raphinha and Olmo spoil Iglesias treble
It looked like another easy win for Barcelona when Ferran Torres fired the hosts ahead early.
But Celta striker Borja Iglesias started his spectacular three-goal performance just three minutes later, scoring on the break after Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny failed to reach a low cross.
Iglesias stunned the home fans again by scoring twice more in the 59th and 62nd from passes from Celta’s own area that were poorly defended by Barcelona.
Iglesias got his second goal after Frenkie De Jong let a long goal kick that looked harmless bounce past him, apparently thinking a teammate would control it. Instead, Iglesias pounced on the ball and drilled a shot inside the far post. Iglesias made it a hat trick when Barcelona’s defense let him run onto a long ball and dink his shot past Szczesny.
Barcelona looked done but Flick’s side quickly rallied behind Raphinha — with some help from substitutes Olmo and Lamine Yamal.
Raphinha slipped a ball through for Olmo to take Barcelona’s second goal. He then rose up to thump in Yamal’s cross with a powerful header. And with Lewandowski on the bench, Raphinha beat goalkeeper Vincente Guaita from the high-pressure penalty deep in injury time after a video review convinced the referee to penalize a foul by Celta defender Yoel Lago on Olmo.
Celta, which held Barcelona to 2-2 in their other meeting this season, fell into eighth place.
Mallorca moved into seventh after a 0-0 draw with Leganes.
Also, Umar Sadiq struck to help Valencia rally for 1-1 at Rayo Vallecano.


Vibrant Villa crush Newcastle to close in on top five

Vibrant Villa crush Newcastle to close in on top five
Updated 19 April 2025
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Vibrant Villa crush Newcastle to close in on top five

Vibrant Villa crush Newcastle to close in on top five
  • Villa returned to Premier League action in emphatic fashion
  • Victory lifted Villa three points above Chelsea into sixth place

BIRMINGHAM: Aston Villa thumped top-five rivals Newcastle United 4-1 at Villa Park to keep themselves in the thick of the race for Champions League qualification on Saturday.
Five days after being knocked out of Europe’s top club competition by Paris St. Germain in a thriller, Villa returned to Premier League action in emphatic fashion with the recalled Ollie Watkins opening the scoring inside the first minute.
Fabian Schar equalized for third-placed Newcastle with a header before halftime but Villa blazed clear after the break with Ian Maatsen restoring their lead before a Dan Burn own goal and substitute Amadou Onana’s superb finish sealed the points.
Victory lifted Villa three points above Chelsea into sixth place with 57 points from 33 games, level with Nottingham Forest who play on Monday.
Newcastle have 59 points, one more than fourth-placed Manchester City, in what is turning into a fierce battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
The top five in the Premier League will all qualify.
Newcastle had won five successive Premier League games and the League Cup final but were brought crashing back down to earth by a superb Villa side who could have scored far more.
Watkins was twice denied by the woodwork in the first half as the England forward produced a dazzling display having been left out of the starting line-up in recent games.
Unai Emery’s Villa go to Manchester City on Tuesday when victory would send them into the top four.
Newcastle, again with manager Eddie Howe absent as he recovers from pneumonia, were rocked after 33 minutes when Youri Tielemans slid a pass to Watkins whose shot took a big deflection off Schar to wrong-foot goalkeeper Nick Pope.
Watkins thumped a left-footer against the post soon after and then saw a header rebound off the woodwork as Villa buzzed around a listless Newcastle.
The visitors did improve though and when Harvey Barnes sent over a cross, Schar arrived at the back post and his header went in off Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez.
Villa looked the more threatening after the break and took the lead when a surging Maatsen was played in by Watkins and he rifled a shot across Pope and in.
Emery sent on Jacob Ramsey and Onana with little under 20 minutes left and both made an immediate impact.
Ramsey’s low cross was turned in by Burn and then Onana put the icing on the cake with a powerful finish from the edge of the penalty area after incessant Villa pressure.


Max Verstappen on pole in Jeddah as Lando Norris crashes in qualifying

Max Verstappen on pole in Jeddah as Lando Norris crashes in qualifying
Updated 19 April 2025
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Max Verstappen on pole in Jeddah as Lando Norris crashes in qualifying

Max Verstappen on pole in Jeddah as Lando Norris crashes in qualifying
  • Dutchman seizes pole from Piastri
  • Championship leader Norris crashes, qualifies 10th

JEDDAH: World champion Max Verstappen put Red Bull on pole position for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in track-record time on Saturday as McLaren’s Formula One leader Lando Norris hit the wall and qualified 10th.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, bidding to become the first Australian to lead the standings since Mark Webber in 2010, joined the four-times world champion on the front row for Sunday’s night race.
Mercedes’s George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will share the second row in third and fourth at the super-fast Corniche circuit where the winner has come from pole three out of four times previously.
“The car came alive in the night,” exclaimed Verstappen after pipping Piastri by a mere 0.010 of a second.
The pole position changed hands three times in a final flurry of flying laps before the champion settled matters with a time of one minute 27.294 seconds.
“I think in the race it will be difficult to keep them behind. But we will give it a good go,” said Verstappen, winner last year.
Italian 18-year-old rookie Kimi Antonelli qualified fifth for Mercedes, with Carlos Sainz sixth for Williams and Lewis Hamilton only seventh for Ferrari.
Verstappen’s team mate Yuki Tsunoda will start eighth with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly ninth.
Norris was fastest in final practice and the second phase of qualifying, after Verstappen had led the first, but brought out red flags with eight-and-a-half minutes remaining when he hit the wall.
The Briton, who leads Piastri by three points after four races, signalled over the team radio that he was unhurt while calling himself an idiot with an exasperated expletive thrown in.
Piastri was the only one with a time on the board at that point, his 1:27.560 effort slower than Norris’s best of 1:27.481 in Q2.
Verstappen then went top when the track action resumed but Russell and Piastri went faster again before the Red Bull driver’s last effort.
Hamilton just squeezed through to the final top-10 shootout, the 40-year-old just 0.007 quicker than 11th-placed Alex Albon in the Williams.
Liam Lawson qualified 12th and ahead of his Racing Bulls rookie team mate Isack Hadjar in 14th.
Oliver Bearman, who made a sensational F1 debut with Ferrari as a stand-in at last year’s Saudi race, will line up 15th for Haas.
Aston Martin, marking their 100th Formula One race as a marque, had another difficult session with double world champion Fernando Alonso 13th and Lance Stroll 16th.