A few years back, when David Beckham was preparing to move his career upstairs, from ex-playing legend to club owner, he was hit with a lawsuit.
Inter Miami, the start-up project aiming to join the American MLS, were being pursued by Internazionale, or Inter Milan as they are often known, for trademark infringement. There was only one real “Inter” in football, the Italians claimed, and the name should be exclusively theirs.
That wrangle still rumbles on and, as Italy’s Inter prepare for their most important, high-profile fixture for 13 years, tomorrow’s Champions League final against Manchester City, they may now wonder if they can still claim to be the most famous Inter in the sport.
Lionel Messi’s announcement this week he will be joining Inter Miami has boosted the MLS institution as almost nothing else could.
Time was when Inter of Serie A used to be linked with signing Messi, back in his peak years with Barcelona.
Those stories were based mostly on wishful thinking in Milan. But there were times in the past 15 years when Inter might have found the budget for the scale of bid needed to sign the world’s very finest footballers.
Those times are now past. The Inter who line up in Istanbul represent a triumph of pragmatism in austerity.
Their manager Simone Inzaghi, who took on the role in 2021 after Antonio Conte left complaining about the restricted budget, knows it whenever he studies his line-up.
In Istanbul he will make his key decision on who to start at centre-forward between a 37-year-old who came in on a free transfer, Edin Dzeko, and Romelu Lukaku, who belongs to Chelsea and is only back for his second spell at Inter on loan because his €120 million move to London had turned sour.
Dzeko, formerly of City, and Lukaku have each scored 14 goals this season in their 51 (Dzeko) and 36 (Lukaku) appearances. That’s barely a quarter of the astonishing 52 goals in as many games that Erling Haaland has netted for City, 36 of them in the Premier League, a competition the Norwegian is trying out for the first time, having joined the English champions only last July.
Across the forward line, the comparisons are no less flattering to City. Inter’s top scorer in 2022-23, with 28 goals, is Lautaro Martinez, a high-class striker, although not so brilliant that, during the World Cup, he was not eclipsed in the hierarchy of the Argentina squad by Julian Alvarez, who does not normally command a place in City’s XI.
So it is through the finalists’ respective squads, Inter second best in almost every position to a lavishly assembled City, made up of players recruited generally at high cost, contracted to be at City for the peak years of their careers and attracted there by the quality of their teammates, the vision of manager Pep Guardiola, and the facilities that, under the stewardship of their Abu Dhabi owners, have set new standards of excellence.
They are dominant in the most popular domestic league in the world, English champions five times in the past six years. Victory in Istanbul would make them the first Premier League winners of the Champions League-centred treble this century.
So, naturally, City are favourites against Inter’s assorted veterans – Dzeko, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Francesco Acerbi, the spine of the team have a combined age of 106, while cut-price signings Hakan Calhanoglu, goalkeeper Andre Onana, Dzeko and Mkhitaryan all came in for free; Acerbi, like Lukaku, is on loan – and favourites by a vast margin unusual at this stage of club football’s most prestigious competition.
Inter and Man City champions League training
Not even history – Inter have been European club champions three times, most recently in the Treble-winning 2009-10 season – is an alibi, even in a Cup that resists having new names etched on it. The last club to take home the trophy for the first time in their history were Chelsea, in 2012. They won it a second time in 2021, when City had travelled to Porto as favourites to win that all-English final.
In the back of the mind, acting as a stimulant to Inter, is that hinterland, the long saga of City’s tripping up in the late stages of European campaigns when, with Guardiola in charge and the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan growing into peerless performers in their positions under his watch, they failed, again and again, at key moments.
Those moments include the vanishing lead at Real Madrid at the very tail-end of last year’s semi-final; the off-key midfield selection against Chelsea; the ambushes by French underdogs Monaco and Lyon; the upending of the domestic order when City were knocked out by Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.
After one final and two semi-finals in the past seven years, the most coveted of all club prizes is long overdue.
“We must accept that if we want to make a definitive step as a big club, we must win in Europe,” admits Guardiola. “We have to win the Champions League. That’s something you can’t avoid.”
The End of Loneliness
Benedict Wells
Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins
Sceptre
Men’s singles
Group A: Son Wan-ho (Kor), Lee Chong Wei (Mas), Ng Long Angus (HK), Chen Long (Chn)
Group B: Kidambi Srikanth (Ind), Shi Yugi (Chn), Chou Tien Chen (Tpe), Viktor Axelsen (Den)
Women’s Singles
Group A: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn), Pusarla Sindhu (Ind), Sayaka Sato (Jpn), He Bingjiao (Chn)
Group B: Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe), Sung Hi-hyun (Kor), Ratchanok Intanon (Tha), Chen Yufei (Chn)
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Racecard
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Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UAE group fixtures
Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran
Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait
Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed
