From left, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez, Juan Sebastian Veron and Lionel Messi train with coach Diego Maradona, centre.
From left, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez, Juan Sebastian Veron and Lionel Messi train with coach Diego Maradona, centre.

Argentina's sharpshooters on the hunt



They were The Fabulous Five. Now that the veteran Martin Palermo has registered on the World Cup scoresheet, they can be called The Sensational Six. Argentina's striking power was always likely to be their strength in South Africa. In their first three matches Argentina scored seven goals and it might have been 10 or 12 if Vincent Enyeama, the Nigerian goalkeeper, had not been so inspired while limiting Diego Maradona's team to a 1-0 victory at the outset of Group B.

Although the goals have been scored by defenders as well as strikers, each of Argentina's half-dozen forwards has shown a liveliness that suggests their recent good form is not restricted to club football. The Argentina coach, who took some time deciding on his first team in the build-up, will enjoy the selection dilemmas ahead of today's meeting with Mexico and, equally, enjoy glancing round and seeing the potent trio he has ready to come off the bench:

Lionel Messi Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions for Barcelona last season. He is the reigning World Footballer of the Year and probably the most exciting player to have emerged in the 21st century. Doubts stalked him ahead of the World Cup because he has frequently shone far less brightly for Argentina than for his club. But here, in South Africa, Messi looks confident and comfortable. He dazzled in the group phase, and his coach, who made him captain against Greece, evidently recognises his importance.

Gonzalo Higuain For the first year of his reign as Argentina coach, Maradona seemed unmoved by the progress Higuain was making at Real Madrid, which he joined in 2007, aged only 19. Born in France, where his father played as a professional, he had the choice to represent Les Bleus, but elected for Argentina, where he has spent most of his life. Deceptively quick, and a more-than-capable header of the ball, Higuain scored 29 times for Real last season. He also scored a hat-trick against South Korea in Argentina's second match in these World Cup finals.

Carlos Tevez Alias "Apache", Tevez is eye-catching for his hard work. He is a furious, tireless runner who will move wide, explore the channels and withdraw to deep positions for the ball. A native of Buenos Aires, he has thrived in the Argentinian league, was a player-of-the-year in Brazilian football and on transferring to West Ham United, kept them in the English Premier League. Effective but not prolific in front of goal for Manchester United, his move to Manchester City has unleashed the scorer inside; he had 29 goals last season.

Sergio Aguero Known to his fans and his coach as "Kun" for a facial resemblance to a Japanese cartoon character, Aguero is the youngest of Maradona's World Cup strike force but is by no means a novice. He won the Europa League with Atletico Madrid in May, and hit 20 goals during the season for the Spanish club. Great skills on the ball, good pace and plenty of bravura in taking on opponents, Aguero's relationship with the coach is necessarily close: he is the father of Maradona's grandson.

Martin Palermo Given a surprise recall to the national team after an absence of a decade, Palermo, 36, offers alternative approaches for his coach. Maradona has proved very ready to consider players' performances in the Argentinian league - where Palermo is Boca Juniors' career-best scorer - as highly as achievements in European leagues, where Palermo had short spells. He is big, powerful, strong in the air and the closest to a traditional target man. He scored a crucial goal in qualifying against Peru, and his first World Cup finals goal was against Greece.

Diego Milito The second-leading scorer in Italy's Serie A last season, he was crucial in achieving a historic treble for his club, Inter Milan. Milito, now into his 30s, came to South Africa in blessed form. He scored the goals that sealed the Coppa Italia, the league championship and the Champions League final for Inter. Milito is intelligent, industrious and determined, and he may be the best pure finisher, aside from Messi, in Maradona's pack. @Email:sports@thenational.ae Watch England v Germany (6pm) and Argentina v Mexico (10.30pm) both on Aljazeera World Cup and Aljazeera Sport +9

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The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre 6-cyl turbo

Power: 374hp at 5,500-6,500rpm

Torque: 500Nm from 1,900-5,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.5L/100km

Price: from Dh285,000

On sale: from January 2022 

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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 
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The%20specs
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UAE SQUAD

Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Ahmed Raza, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Chirag Suri , Zahoor Khan

Cricket World Cup League Two

Oman, UAE, Namibia

Al Amerat, Muscat

 

Results

Oman beat UAE by five wickets

UAE beat Namibia by eight runs

 

Fixtures

Wednesday January 8 –Oman v Namibia

Thursday January 9 – Oman v UAE

Saturday January 11 – UAE v Namibia

Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia

Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

RESULT

Arsenal 0 Chelsea 3
Chelsea: Willian (40'), Batshuayi (42', 49')

Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7

World Sevens Series Pools

A – Fiji, France, Argentina, Japan

B – United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland

C – New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Wales

D – South Africa, England, Spain, Kenya

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

Our family matters legal consultant

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Premier League results

Saturday

Tottenham Hotspur 1 Arsenal 1

Bournemouth 0 Manchester City 1

Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Huddersfield Town 0

Burnley 1 Crystal Palace 3

Manchester United 3 Southampton 2

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Cardiff City 0

West Ham United 2 Newcastle United 0

Sunday

Watford 2 Leicester City 1

Fulham 1 Chelsea 2

Everton 0 Liverpool 0

War

Director: Siddharth Anand

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor

Rating: Two out of five stars 

The White Lotus: Season three

Creator: Mike White

Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell

Rating: 4.5/5

Specs

Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric

Range: Up to 610km

Power: 905hp

Torque: 985Nm

Price: From Dh439,000

Available: Now

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
If you go

The flights

Fly direct to London from the UAE with Etihad, Emirates, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic from about Dh2,500 return including taxes. 

The hotel

Rooms at the convenient and art-conscious Andaz London Liverpool Street cost from £167 (Dh800) per night including taxes.

The tour

The Shoreditch Street Art Tour costs from £15 (Dh73) per person for approximately three hours. 

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