MARRAKECH, Morocco // Real Madrid defeated San Lorenzo of Argentina 2-0 on Saturday to win the Club World Cup and secure their fourth trophy of 2014.
The Spanish giants dominated the final with Sergio Ramos, who had been an injury doubt because of a hamstring strain, and Gareth Bale getting on the scoresheet.
Real added the year-ending trophy to the Champions League, Copa del Rey and European Super Cup titles they had already secured in 2014. They will also end the year on top of La Liga.
Click here to see a photo gallery from the Club World Cup final between Real Madrid and San Lorenzo
Saturday’s triumph was also their 22nd consecutive win in all competitions, and they now have in their sights the mark of 26 straight wins achieved by Johan Cruyff’s Ajax side in 1971-72.
“We deserved to win the title -- we can say that Real Madrid are the best team in the world,” said Real coach Carlo Ancelotti.
“We have done really well this year, it’s been unforgettable. We are a team and a family.”
Real are also guaranteed to finish the year as La Liga leaders and Ancelotti was already setting his sights on similar achievements in 2015.
“We’d be happy with a repeat. We’ll continue forward like this in all competitions and will face the new year with excitement and enthusiasm.”
Meanwhile, Bale tweeted: “Couldn’t think of a better Christmas present, FIFA World Club Champions 2014!! #HalaMadrid.”
Ramos opened the scoring after 37 minutes when he rose above the San Lorenzo defence to send a thumping header past goalkeeper Sebastian Torrico from a Toni Kroos corner.
Bale made it 2-0 six minutes into the second half when he collected a pass from Isco and fired the ball straight at Torrico.
But the Argentine ‘keeper made a terrible hash of the Welshman’s tame shot and fumbled the ball over the line.
Real ‘keeper Iker Casillas was relatively untroubled, called into serious action for the first time well after the hour mark to keep out an Emmanuel Mas drive.
At the other end, Karim Benzema went close to a third Real goal but his touch went wide of the post.
Cristiano Ronaldo had a quiet night and failed to get on the end of a Benzema cross in the 80th minute.
In the last minute, San Lorenzo’s Juan Mercier unleashed a powerful, long distance drive which was saved by a diving Casillas.
“Madrid won fairly. But for us it was an honour to have finished the year playing in the final of the World Cup. We are very proud despite the grief of losing,” said San Lorenzo coach Edgardo Bauza.
“It’s been a wonderful year for the club and for the fans -- we won the Copa Libertadores.”
Earlier, New Zealand’s Auckland City claimed third place after defeating Cruz Azul 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to become the first Oceania team to win a medal at the tournament.
The two sides were locked 1-1 at the end of normal time with defender Ryan de Vries’ goal in first-half injury time equalised by Joao Rojas’ close-range effort just before the hour mark for the Mexican side.
In the shoot-out, Sanni Issa scored the eventual winner for the semi-professionals from Auckland.
The Kiwis had made the third-place play-off by beating Moroccan side Moghreb Tetouan 1-0 and then seeing off African champions Setif of Algeria by the same score.
They narrowly missed out on a place in the final when they conceded an extra-time goal in a 2-1 loss to San Lorenzo.
“Half of my players are amateurs. We deserve to finish where we have because we’ve been brilliant from beginning to end,” said Auckland coach Ramon Tribulietx.
“I hope this performance will have a positive impact on football in New Zealand. No one expected us to come third, and it’s a real honour.”
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
'THE WORST THING YOU CAN EAT'
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The UN General Assembly President in quotes:
YEMEN: “The developments we have seen are promising. We really hope that the parties are going to respect the agreed ceasefire. I think that the sense of really having the political will to have a peace process is vital. There is a little bit of hope and the role that the UN has played is very important.”
PALESTINE: “There is no easy fix. We need to find the political will and comply with the resolutions that we have agreed upon.”
OMAN: “It is a very important country in our system. They have a very important role to play in terms of the balance and peace process of that particular part of the world, in that their position is neutral. That is why it is very important to have a dialogue with the Omani authorities.”
REFORM OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL: “This is complicated and it requires time. It is dependent on the effort that members want to put into the process. It is a process that has been going on for 25 years. That process is slow but the issue is huge. I really hope we will see some progress during my tenure.”
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
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Profile Idealz
Company: Idealz
Founded: January 2018
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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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
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Match info
Deccan Gladiators 87-8
Asif Khan 25, Dwayne Bravo 2-16
Maratha Arabians 89-2
Chadwick Walton 51 not out
Arabians won the final by eight wickets
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