The Globe Soccer Awards wrapped up in Dubai on Thursday night, as Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was named Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, the 2019 Asian Cup kicks off on Saturday.
The two star-studded events, plus the glorious weather we're enjoying in the UAE right now, has seen some of the world's most famous sports celebrities descend on Dubai.
Cristiano Ronaldo
The Juventus striker has been in the UAE for the past week, with fiancee Georgina Rodriguez. The couple watched the fireworks on New Year's Eve, Ronaldo took a helicopter flight over Dubai, and he met up with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, who called the former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward "a great player and a greater friend". His trip came to a very successful conclusion when he was named Player of the Year at Globe Soccer Awards.
Anthony Joshua
The British boxer and world heavyweight champion is not only hanging out in Dubai – he's hanging out in Dubai with Cristiano Ronaldo. The pair met up after Ronaldo's big win. Joshua is said to be chilling out in the UAE before getting back into his tough training regime.
Steven Gerrard
The Rangers football manager is also sunning himself, and his family, in Dubai, it seems. A picture he shared on Instagram of him and his wife Alex on a beach was reportedly liked 30,000 times in just 20 minutes (one day later and it has 376,000 likes).
Gianni Infantino
The Fifa president has been in the UAE for the Dubai International Sports Conference. He confirmed the sport's ruling body was looking into the feasibility of extending the 2022 World Cup to 48 teams, and staging matches elsewhere in the Gulf. He has also, it turns out, confirmed that the meat at Nusr-Et Dubai is "number one".
Ronaldo Nazário de Lima and Blaise Matuidi
The Globe Soccer Awards also welcomed another Ronaldo – the 1994 and 2002 World Cup star – as the former Brazilian forward was honoured with the Player Career Award, as was French footballer Blaise Matuidi, who plays for Juventus. The latter has been hanging out in Dubai, working out at Fairmont The Palm and doing some dune bashing in the desert.
Franck Ribery
The French footballer, who plays for German team Bayern Munich, is another in a string of stars to pay compliments to Nusr-Et Dubai. "No better way to start the year than with a dash of salt and a visit to my Turkish brother #SaltBae," the winger wrote on Twitter, alongside a video of the world-famous Turkish butcher flamboyantly chopping up a gold-dusted steak.
No better way to start the year than with a dash of salt and a visit to my Turkish brother 🇹🇷👌🏼 #SaltBae #fr7👑 #ELHAMDOULILLAH🤲🏽♥️ pic.twitter.com/O5ztj4mueq
— Franck Ribéry (@FranckRibery) January 3, 2019
Robin Van Persie
Yet another footballer has been hanging out in the Dubai deserts, and it seems the former Manchester United player also bumped into Anthony Joshua. The Feyenoord forward wrote in a post on Instagram: "#Dubai was OUTSTANDING once again!"
Manchester United squad
The influx of sporting greats doesn't end here. After United face Reading in the FA Cup this Saturday, they will be heading to Dubai with new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, it has been reported. The team is said to be staying at the One&Only Royal Mirage Arabian Court, close to Palm Jumeirah. It won't all be leisure and luxury, however, as Solskjaer has insisted the players will be up for some gruelling workouts in the UAE before they face Tottenham on January 13.
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