Diego Forlan writes a weekly column for The National, appearing each Friday. The former Manchester United, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid striker has been the top scorer in Europe twice and won the Golden Boot at the 2010 World Cup. Forlan’s column is written with the assistance of European football correspondent Andy Mitten.
On Sunday, I played in a game that I’ve been dreaming of playing in all my life: Penarol v Nacional. Uruguay is a country of only three million people, but the Montevideo derby, between our two biggest clubs, is one of the best in the world. A study a couple of years ago rated it third, behind Boca Junior-River Plate and Barcelona-Real Madrid.
This derby, in my home city, has been a big part of my life. As a child, I could be a hero in class, because my father had played for Penarol. If Penarol had beaten Nacional everyone wanted to be my friend. However, if Nacional won, life was difficult, even though my dad had stopped playing for Penarol. There are other clubs in Uruguay which should be respected, but everyone in the country favours either Penarol or Nacional.
I started going to games to support Penarol as a child and went to matches with my friends until I moved away to Argentina at the start of my career. Even there, I always wanted to come back and watch the derby. My friends carried on going to games, even to away matches in the Libertadores Cup.
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In 1999, I was a fringe player for Independiente, in Argentina, largely playing in the reserves. I checked for my name on the first-team sheet every week and wanted to be in the team. Most weeks I was not.
There was one exception. In November that year, my cousin was getting married in Montevideo on the same weekend as the derby. I desperately wanted to attend the wedding and the derby as Penarol were going to win the league. The key player was Pablo Bengoechea, my current coach at Penarol. For the first time in my life, I did not want to be picked for the first team, and I did not think I would be because I was not a regular.
I approached the noticeboard nervously. Guess what? My name was on the sheet. I missed the wedding (my cousin is still married, with two beautiful daughters) and I missed the derby. Ever since then, I have been playing around the world. I have not been to watch a single derby match, though I have watched almost all of them on television.
And so to last Sunday. Penarol are top of the league, two points clear of Nacional. The season is coming to end, with only three games left. Nacional needed to win. The famous Centenario stadium was full, around 60,000 fans, with 20,000 away fans spread over three tiers. In Europe, you maybe get 3,000 away fans at games. In Montevideo away fans are out in force; an entire stand singing.
Centenario may be open, with only a small roof on one stand, but the atmosphere is quite incredible. Supporters are not allowed flares any more, but the songs and the flags, the non-stop noise, is amazing. Come to Uruguay to see it for yourself, you will not be disappointed.
The fans start entering the stadiums four hours before kick off because the two teams’ reserve sides play against each other first. So that game starts with around 10,000 people watching, hoping to see the stars of the future, and ends with almost 60,000 people watching a reserve game. Then the real game starts.
The hairs stood up on the back of my neck as I walked out. I have played in some great games around the world: Manchester United v Liverpool and Manchester City, Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid, Inter Milan v AC Milan, Internacional v Gremio. They are all incredible, but I am home now. These are my people, my friends, my family; these are the people I care most about and I had the ability to change their mood, just as my father did all those years ago. It is a big responsibility. The game dominates the media for weeks before, everyone talks about it. Go to the shop or the petrol station and people talk to you about it. They all have their own opinion, their own perfect team; they are all the manager, they care. I love this feeling for football because I feel the same.
I was desperate not to walk out of the Centenario feeling sad. Besides, if Nacional, the eternal rival of Penarol, won they would go top. That would be a disaster for us, for me in my first season here, which I am enjoying so much.
I am playing just behind the strikers, though I have scored three goals myself. I might be Uruguayan but these are my first days in the league here. I have had to adapt to the league, it is not easy but I have really enjoyed it.
Sunday was the biggest test. I received a yellow card after eight minutes. Then Nacional scored after 43 minutes. It was not a good first half, but in the 79th minute, my teammate Matias Aguirregaray scored the equaliser, a big moment for the team. The game finished 1-1, and we stayed top.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
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Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
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The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 611bhp
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Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Price: upon application
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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
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.”
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
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Results:
Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The six points:
1. Ministers should be in the field, instead of always at conferences
2. Foreign diplomacy must be left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation
3. Emiratisation is a top priority that will have a renewed push behind it
4. The UAE's economy must continue to thrive and grow
5. Complaints from the public must be addressed, not avoided
6. Have hope for the future, what is yet to come is bigger and better than before
