There is an advertisement that has been running on Chilean television these last few weeks, stylishly shot and bold in its suggestions. Its scenario places us some 50 years in the future, on a rural farmhouse where a young schoolboy, wide-eyed, asks an elderly man for ideas for a history project for his homework.
His grandfather, preparing supper for the boy with his back to camera, says he has an idea. “Why not do something on the ‘Golden Generation’,” he suggests, at which point images of celebrating Chile supporters, in red shirts and waving scarves, come on to the screen, with distinct Russian backdrops. Grandfather, pouring water into the purifying machine — this is set in a climate-changed future, remember — talks wistfully about the ‘double championship’ and then the Russian experience.
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Read more
■ Russia: Time running out to build a worthy team for 2018 World Cup
■ Confederations Cup: Battle to be Manuel Neuer's undisputed deputy
■ Alexis Sanchez: Blanks Arsenal talk while on Chile duty
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“Where were you?,” asks the enthralled grandson. At that point, we see the face of the kindly granddad: It is Alexis Sanchez, his face made up as lined and weathered, his hair grey.
It’s a clever advertisement, playing on the difference between the slow movements of the ageing granddad and the restless, quicksilver Sanchez that Chileans, and indeed football followers everywhere, have come to recognise instantly.
The phrase ‘Golden Generation’ is just as recognisable to Chileans, many of whom hope strongly that the most successful national squad in their history can by the end of next week add a Confederations Cup title to the South American crowns they have picked up in the last two summers.
Sanchez, 28, secured his own place in history on Thursday with the opportunist goal that put Chile 1-0 up early in their Group B draw with Germany, a result that all but secures their semi-final berth (they need only avoid defeat by two clear goals or more against Australia in Moscow on Sunday).
It was Sanchez’s 38th for his country, a total that put him one clear of Marcelo Salas for international goals at the head of the list of Chilean marksmen. Salas, a hero of the late 1990s and early Noughties, may have played fewer games — 70 caps to Alexis’s 112 — but then Salas, of Lazio and Juventus, did not spend a portion of his career as a winger as Alexis has. Salas operated right up front and often benefited from having another world-class centre-forward alongside him, in Ivan Zamorano, of Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
That pairing became known as ‘Sa-Za’, and helped Chile to the last 16 of the 1998 World Cup. Until the 2010 World Cup, that had marked a modern high point. But with Sanchez a key component of a pressing game, Chile, under a series of Argentina-born managers, have surpassed anything previous generations achieved. They have penetrated the knockout phases of the last two World Cups, and were a missed penalty away from knocking Brazil, the hosts, out before the quarter-finals last time around. But the real glint of this golden generation are the Copa American triumphs of 2015 and 2016, achieved under the management of Jorge Sampaoli and the incumbent Juan Antonio Pizzi.
“There’s a group who were born in the 1980s who have become the best players in our country’s history,” midfielder Arturo Vidal said. “And we have had managers, in Sampaoli and Pizzi, who were able to make us work well together and enjoy ourselves.”
Vidal, of Bayern Munich, is as conspicuous a leader of the golden generation as Sanchez, and there is vast experience through the spine of the team. Inter defender Gary Medel is one of a quartet of players in Russia for Chile’s first tilt at a Confederations Cup with over 100 caps. Medel, alias ‘Pitbull’, brings, like the dynamic, aggressive Vidal, a characteristic to the Chile team that Australia will be as mindful of as the finishing of Sanchez when the two sides face each other on Sunday. Chile, ranked fourth in the world by Fifa, are teak-tough, rugged, as well as talented.
The Confederations Cup is, like the advert on local television suggests, deemed a worthwhile title, too. A reported 10,000 Chileans have travelled, or will travel, to Russia to watch their heroes. As for their all-time leading scorer, Sanchez has made it clear that he is focused in Russia despite the swirl of speculation about his club future, which he has strongly suggested may soon be somewhere other than Arsenal, his employer for the last three years.
Nonetheless, his ears will certainly have pricked up at the news Arsenal have made a hefty bid to sign the French striker Alex Lacazette, a plausible replacement for the restless, rapid Sanchez.
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The Beach Bum
Director: Harmony Korine
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Isla Fisher, Snoop Dogg
Two stars
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At Eternity’s Gate
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
Can NRIs vote in the election?
Indians residing overseas cannot cast their ballot abroad
Non-resident Indians or NRIs can vote only by going to a polling booth in their home constituency
There are about 3.1 million NRIs living overseas
Indians have urged political parties to extend the right to vote to citizens residing overseas
A committee of the Election Commission of India approved of proxy voting for non-resident Indians
Proxy voting means that a person can authorise someone residing in the same polling booth area to cast a vote on his behalf.
This option is currently available for the armed forces, police and government officials posted outside India
A bill was passed in the lower house of India’s parliament or the Lok Sabha to extend proxy voting to non-resident Indians
However, this did not come before the upper house or Rajya Sabha and has lapsed
The issue of NRI voting draws a huge amount of interest in India and overseas
Over the past few months, Indians have received messages on mobile phones and on social media claiming that NRIs can cast their votes online
The Election Commission of India then clarified that NRIs could not vote online
The Election Commission lodged a complaint with the Delhi Police asking it to clamp down on the people spreading misinformation
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
TOURNAMENT INFO
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Thursday results
UAE beat Kuwait by 86 runs
Qatar beat Bahrain by five wickets
Saudi Arabia beat Maldives by 35 runs
Friday fixtures
10am, third-place playoff – Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
3pm, final – UAE v Qatar
WIDE%20VIEW
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Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3ECompany%20name%3A%20CarbonSifr%3Cbr%3EStarted%3A%202022%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%3Cbr%3EFounders%3A%20Onur%20Elgun%2C%20Mustafa%20Bosca%20and%20Muhammed%20Yildirim%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Climate%20tech%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%241%20million%20raised%20in%20seed%20funding%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
The%20specs
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The%20Super%20Mario%20Bros%20Movie
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
