{
  "id": 725328,
  "title": "UAE is Zlatko Dalic's second home - now he must help national team forge new identity",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/13/uae-is-zlatko-dalics-second-home-now-he-must-help-national-team-forge-725328",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-13T03:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The National UAE",
    "slug": "the-national-uae",
    "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2026/08/13/uae-is-zlatko-dalics-second-home-now-he-must-give-national-team-a-new-identity/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Zlatko Dalic, who led Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final, has accepted a coaching role with the UAE. Despite not being a top European league position, the job comes with Big Five wages, likely placing his salary among the highest in international football. At 59, Dalic has chosen to return to the Middle East, moving away from his planned retirement in Croatia. The move is seen as a way for him to give back to the country that helped him succeed. He has already achieved unprecedented success with Croatia, winning two World Cup medals – a silver in 2018 and a bronze in 2022. His achievements with Al Ain in the UAE also paved the way for his appointment as the national team manager.",
  "summary": "Back in 2019, when he was still basking in the glow of taking his homeland to the World Cup final a year earlier, Zlatko Dalic pondered what the future would look like. A job at a good club in a Big Five league, he said, then get a boat and retire. He would not, he said, “die on the bench” as the job of a football coach is too stressful. Life does not always work out as planned. In the…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The National Business",
        "title": "UAE is Zlatko Dalic's second home - now he must help national team forge new identity",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/13/uae-is-zlatko-dalics-second-home-now-he-must-help-national-team-forge",
        "published": "2026-08-13T03:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}