Jorge Jesus remains in contention to be Brazil’s next manager after an extraordinary chain of events on Tuesday night.
Reports earlier in the day in Brazil stated Carlo Ancelotti had agreed terms to take over the national team ahead of their June World Cup qualifiers.
However, it was later reported the deal had fallen through due to the terms of severance between the Italian coach and Real Madrid.
It means Jesus has been reinstalled among the leading contenders to take charge of the Selecao - while Ancelotti could become a candidate to replace him at Al Hilal.
The 70-year-old Portuguese coach has been highly regarded in Brazil since leading Flamengo to the Copa Libertadores title in 2020.
Either side of that successful stint in Rio, he has had tempestuous spells at Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
Just as the latest reports were surfacing in Brazil, Jesus was overseeing a wild end to Hilal’s latest bid for a fifth AFC Champions League title.
On a fiery night in front of 50,000 fans at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Jesus’ side lost control and were soundly beaten by Al Ahli Saudi in the semi-final.
Roberto Firmino, Ivan Toney and Feras Albirkan scored the goals that gave Ahli, who were playing at their home ground, a 3-1 win.
They were good value for it, hitting the post a number of times besides, and missing a penalty, while Toney also had two more goals ruled out for narrow offside decisions.
Hilal were architects of their own downfall. Kalidou Koulibaly was shown a red card in the second half for two brutal fouls, while a member of Jesus’ support staff was also sent off for his part in the first of a number of melees.
Jesus said the ill-discipline was down to Adham Makhadmeh, the Jordanian referee, who issued 11 yellow cards in all, including one in the first minute of the match.
“The referee wasn't at as good a level as the teams,” Jesus said.
“I think he was the one behind us having such a bad performance. There were many discussions and a lot of nervousness between the players.
"That made the game full of tension, I wish we had a better referee at a better level.
“But I don't want to put everything on the referee. I’m the one responsible.”
Having overseen a spectacular campaign last time round, when they won 31 of 34 matches in an unbeaten league season, Hilal’s campaign has unravelled in recent times.
After their double success last season, pickings will be meagre this time around.
They are six points behind another Jeddah side, Al Ittihad, with five games left in the Saudi Pro League, while they crashed out at the semi-final stage in the Champions League for the second season running.
Whether Jesus would get a particularly glowing testimony from Hilal’s own Brazilian players seems unlikely at present.
In Friday night’s 7-0 thrashing of Gwangju, Marcos Leonardo had to be encouraged to leave the field by his teammates after he was substituted.
An even more spectacular meltdown followed Jesus’ decision to withdraw Kaio Cesar in the second half of the loss to Ahli.
Jesus introduced the winger in the 59th minute as Hilal, at 2-1 down, chased an equaliser.
In the next play Koulibaly was sent off for felling Roger Ibanez and, nine minutes later, Jesus opted to take Cesar back off.
The winger was stunned, holding his arms up in protest, and had to be pushed from the field by sympathetic teammates.
He was on the opposite side to the field to his manager, and furiously kicked out at a number of water bottles on his unhappy traipse back to the dugout.
“We lost our cool with a good team, a team that has high-level players, like the Al Hilal players,” Jesus said.
“We didn't lose to just any team. It's true that we didn't do so well in that semi-final, like what we thought we could do.
“When you lose, [blame has] nothing to do with it. The administration has nothing to do with Al Hilal's defeat today; the one who lost the game here was coach Jorge Jesus.
“I'm the coach, and so we are not going to find a culprit. The only culprit is the one who makes decisions, who chooses the team, who makes the substitutions and who could have been better than what happened in the game.
“[I] didn't do as well as I thought I would and therefore, we will not find anyone to blame. The number one culprit in this case is the coach, it's me.”
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
NBA FINALS SO FAR
(Toronto lead 3-2 in best-of-seven series)
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
Game 5 Raptors 105 Warriors 106
Game 6 Thursday, at Oakland
Game 7 Sunday, at Toronto (if needed)
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Bio:
Favourite Quote: Prophet Mohammad's quotes There is reward for kindness to every living thing and A good man treats women with honour
Favourite Hobby: Serving poor people
Favourite Book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite food: Fish and vegetables
Favourite place to visit: London
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
Zidane's managerial achievements
La Liga: 2016/17
Spanish Super Cup: 2017
Uefa Champions League: 2015/16, 2016/17, 2017/18
Uefa Super Cup: 2016, 2017
Fifa Club World Cup: 2016, 2017
VEZEETA PROFILE
Date started: 2012
Founder: Amir Barsoum
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: HealthTech / MedTech
Size: 300 employees
Funding: $22.6 million (as of September 2018)
Investors: Technology Development Fund, Silicon Badia, Beco Capital, Vostok New Ventures, Endeavour Catalyst, Crescent Enterprises’ CE-Ventures, Saudi Technology Ventures and IFC
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Klipit%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202022%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Venkat%20Reddy%2C%20Mohammed%20Al%20Bulooki%2C%20Bilal%20Merchant%2C%20Asif%20Ahmed%2C%20Ovais%20Merchant%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Digital%20receipts%2C%20finance%2C%20blockchain%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%244%20million%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Privately%2Fself-funded%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder MHEV
Power: 360bhp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh282,870
On sale: now
Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Graduated from the American University of Sharjah
She is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters
Has helped solve 15 cases of electric shocks
Enjoys travelling, reading and horse riding
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Saturday's schedule at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 race, 12:30pm
Formula 1 final practice, 2pm
Formula 1 qualifying, 5pm
Formula 2 race, 6:40pm
Performance: Sam Smith
