From Al Ain to a fourth major international football tournament, with a World Cup runners-up finish and a third place, too, in between.
It represents a route so remarkable that it bears reminding.
Croatia head coach Zlatko Dalic spent three years as Al Ain manager from 2014, guiding the UAE club back to the summit of domestic football – he won the President’s Cup in his first season, the UAE league title the next – and to within a penalty kick of clinching the 2016 Asian Champions League.
Little more than a year and a half later, Dalic was on the touchline in Moscow as Croatia fell 4-2 to France in the 2018 World Cup final. An underdog coach had led an underdog side to its best finish at a global finals.
In 2022, and with countryman Dalic still at the helm, a ceaseless Croatia finally ran out of legs in the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar, although they recharged enough to defeat Morocco in the play-off for third. Experiencing his first job in senior international football, Dalic had a World Cup bronze to go with the silver, and an already extraordinary CV had another out-of-the-ordinary entry.
Now, Dalic will bid to usher Croatia beyond the quarter-finals of a European Championship for the first time in the country’s history – they fell at the last-16 stage in the past two editions – beginning with progression from a Euro 2024 Group B in Germany that contains defending champions Italy, three-time winners Spain, and Albania. They kick off their campaign on Saturday, against Spain in Berlin.
If Croatia are often labelled perennial overachievers, then Dalic is the perfect man to plot their path. He arrived at Al Ain in January 2014 as a relative unknown after modest stints in Saudi Arabia with Al Faisaly and Al Hilal. Initially, and with Spaniard Quique Sanchez Flores in the dugout, Dalic was announced as the club’s new “technical supervisor”.
A few days later, Sanchez Flores was gone, with Dalic his successor. The ensuing three years as manager were considered a success, although Dalic rarely got significant credit. Al Ain, UAE champions in successive seasons before he was appointed, were expected to thrive – boasting some of the finest Emirati and foreign talent, they were set up to – while Dalic was deemed for the most part too passive on the touchline.
Yet that disposition disguised his tactical acumen and man management; most probably, the latter is a quality that has brought the best out of this Croatia side – even if, in Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic, a country of 3.8 million can showcase a midfield of elite expertise and experience.
Yet few would have anticipated Dalic would last this long. Indeed, he enters the Euros as the tournament's third-longest serving manager, while last year he extended his contract through until the 2026 World Cup. In Croatia, and testament to all he has achieved, he is hugely popular.
It marks an incredible turnaround in profile. When Dalic was installed in October 2017, nine-and-a-bit months after his Al Ain departure, he was far from first choice to replace Ante Cacic. At the time, he had two days to rescue Croatia’s World Cup qualification.
But that he did: Croatia defeated Ukraine to finish second in their group and advance to the play-offs. There, they saw off Greece across two legs and a place in Russia was theirs. Since, Dalic has never looked back.
Except, in another sense, he has. The Bosnia-born coach has continually credited Al Ain for where he is now.
“I learnt at Al Ain where every week I was under pressure, from the fans, from the club, from everyone," Dalic told The National upon his appointment with Croatia in October 2017. "I learnt everything the last three years at Al Ain. Al Ain helped me get to this point."
At the 2018 World Cup, the enduring affinity to the UAE remained clear.
“I get so many messages,” Dalic told The National. “I cannot reply to them all. But so much support from Croatia and from the UAE and Saudi Arabia. It really gives me the strength to achieve something with my team.
"So many from Al Ain, where I spent three years, and they helped me make my name. They gave me an important job, the experience, the support – money also, of course – but with them I built my reputation. I keep them forever in my heart. And I can feel them at my back.”
Now 57, Dalic has kept in touch with numerous friends and former colleagues in the Emirates. This next month, there are sure to be more messages of encouragement, or perhaps even congratulations, as the former defensive midfielder without an international cap attempts to mastermind another momentous major-tournament tilt.
In his own words “forever Ainawi”, the seeds of Dalic’s managerial bloom were really sown in the Garden City.
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
India Test squad
Kohli (c), Dhawan, Rahul, Vijay, Pujara, Rahane (vc), Karun, Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ashwin, Jadeja, Kuldeep, Pandya, Ishant, Shami, Umesh, Bumrah, Thakur
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Oppenheimer
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
SHALASH%20THE%20IRAQI
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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ENGLAND TEAM
England (15-1)
George Furbank; Jonny May, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell (capt), Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Courtney Lawes; Charlie Ewels, Maro Itoje; Kyle Sinckler, Jamie George, Joe Marler
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, Ollie Devoto, Jonathan Joseph
More from Aya Iskandarani
LIKELY TEAMS
South Africa
Faf du Plessis (captain), Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Quinton de Kock (wkt), Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel, Lungi Ngidi.
India (from)
Virat Kohli (captain), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Dinesh Karthik (wkt), Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
RACE CARD
6.30pm Maiden (TB) Dh82.500 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.05pm Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,400m
7.40pm Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (Turf) 2,410m
8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,900m
8.50pm UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm Dubai Trophy (TB) Conditions Dh183,650 (T) 1,200m
10pm Handicap (TB) Dh102,500 (T) 1,400m
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Australia squads
ODI: Tim Paine (capt), Aaron Finch (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye.
T20: Aaron Finch (capt), Alex Carey (vice-capt), Ashton Agar, Travis Head, Nic Maddinson, Glenn Maxwell, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Jack Wildermuth.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbocharged
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 445bhp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh474,600
On Sale: Now
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Paderborn (11.30pm)
Saturday
Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Schalke (6.30pm)
Union Berlin v Borussia Monchengladbach (6.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldof v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Cologne (9.30pm)
Sunday
Augsburg v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Mainz (9pm)
Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut
Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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PSL FINAL
Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi
8pm, Thursday
Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
