The World Cup's list of notable absentees will get a chance to prove their worth once more when they get their European Championship campaigns under way tonight. Sweden, spearheaded by the returning Zlatan Ibrahimovic, welcome Hungary to Solna in what will be coach Erik Hamren's first competitive game in charge. Croatia, one of Europe's biggest casualties in not making the trip to South Africa this summer, travel to Riga intent on dealing Latvia their first home defeat in six matches, while Dick Advocaat has warned his Russian side that players such as Roman Pavlyuchenko (Tottenham), Yuri Zhirkov (Chelsea) and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Everton) should not expect to start against Andorra if they are not playing for their domestic sides.
Italy sit on the brink of a new beginning. Prandelli, the coach who took over from Marcello Lippi after the Azzurri's abysmal World Cup campaign, has called up five uncapped players for their clash with Estonia in Tallinn this evening. Defenders Luca Antonelli, Cesare Bovo, Lorenzo De Silvestri and Daniele Gastaldello are joined by Sevilla midfielder Luca Cigarini in a youthful squad unrecognisable to the one that crashed out in the group stages in South Africa. Experienced heads remain - none more so than Andrea Pirlo - but the focus will be on the young debutants and whether they can paint a bright future for Italy, who have failed to conquer Europe since 1968.
Craig Levein, the new Scotland manager, has presided over only exhibition matches since taking the reins last December. An impressive 1-0 win over Czech Republic, who are also in Group I, was followed by a 3-0 humbling by Sweden and the pressure is, as ever, on the coach to start his competitive reign positively. The Scots have been grouped with Lithuania in all four Euro campaigns since 1998 and will be looking to add to their record of four wins from six games in Kaunas. However, few know what to expect and with at least five players ruled out through injury, tonight's match will be decisive in determining Levein's abilities.
The last time Spain and Holland played a competitive match it was against each other in the most important game in world football. Tonight they travel to the European hinterlands of Liechtenstein and San Marino respectively and must be careful not to allow the lesser occasion influence them. Both will understandably be strong favourites, but football has a funny way of rendering such facts irrelevant. How will Vicente del Bosque motivate his world champions for a match against a Liechtenstein team ranked one place above Burundi? And while Holland could run riot against San Marino, ranked No 202 in the world, the clash has all the hallmarks of producing one of the game's biggest surprises.
Has a coach ever inherited a national team at such low ebb as Blanc received the French reigns last month? Humiliated in South Africa following a run of bad results, a very public dispute between then-coach Raymond Domenech and his captain Patrice Evra, and the subsequent suspension of three of the best players in the squad in Evra, Nicolas Anelka and Franck Ribery. Blanc welcomes Belarus tonight knowing things can hardly get much worse, but also well aware that anything but three points is not an option. He has retained nine players from the World Cup debacle, while calling upon four new faces in a bid to blend youth and experience. This revolution, unlike Evra's, will be televised.
Germany surprised many football followers this summer with their youthful side's attractive, fast-paced style of play. On their way to the World Cup semi-finals they won many admirers and scored more goals than any other team. Tonight they travel to Belgium, a side tipped to achieve big things in the near future courtesy of their creativity, pace and technical ability. Belgian coach Georges Leekens has an underestimated wealth of talent at his disposal - from Thomas Vermaelen and Maroune Fellaini to Eden Hazard and Steven Defour - and will be keen to lay down a signal of his nation's intent.
Capello has come in for incalculable criticism since England failed to perform at the World Cup. The Italian joined the Three Lions camp with one of the best managerial reputations in the world, yet has seen his name ridiculed by the notoriously fickle English media. His decision to take an ageing, injury-prone squad to South Africa backfired, forcing him to rebuild with relatively inexperienced youth. The new look England is undoubtedly talented, but the pressure is as apparent as ever ahead of tonight's match with Bulgaria and some sources are even suggesting defeat could spell the end for Capello.
Group B could stand for 'Believe'. Slovakia showed the world last summer what can be achieved with a little confidence. Having qualified for their first World Cup, Vladimir Weiss's men defeated world champions Italy on their way to the second round. They face Macedonia at home tonight looking to maintain momentum ahead of next week's clash with Russia. Likewise, the Republic of Ireland, having come so close to qualifying for South Africa, must now surely believe they can top a group that contains themselves, the three aforementioned sides, Andorra and, tonight's opponents, Armenia.
Northern Ireland have never qualified for a European Championships, while Wales have failed to appear at the continent's grandest showpiece since 1976. Both nations now, though, have young talented sides and will be keen to appear in Ukraine and Poland in 2012.
Wales, with the likes of Craig Bellamy and Gareth Bale, will be desperate to start strongly against Montenegro, knowing that England, and the chance to claim British bragging rights, awaits later in the campaign.
Meanwhile, the Irish came to within the final round of games from qualifying for the World Cup, and will be looking for revenge tonight over Slovenia, who claimed the final place in their qualifying group.
Portugal, were it not for a stalemate in their opening World Cup game with Ivory Coast, would have avoided Spain in the second round and who knows how far they could have gone. With full-back Fabio Coentrao excelling and Raul Meireles dominating midfield, Portugal showed glimpses of their ability, but, despite putting seven past North Korea, they lacked a goalscorer and relied too heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo, who remains impotent at international level.
The Real Madrid attacker is injured for tonight's match with Cyprus, so Portugal have a chance to discover if, without the need to constantly find an outlet in the world's most expensive player, they can actually become a more free-scoring unit.
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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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
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League final:
Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports
Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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.”
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed
Power: 720hp
Torque: 770Nm
Price: Dh1,100,000
On sale: now
Key developments in maritime dispute
2000: Israel withdraws from Lebanon after nearly 30 years without an officially demarcated border. The UN establishes the Blue Line to act as the frontier.
2007: Lebanon and Cyprus define their respective exclusive economic zones to facilitate oil and gas exploration. Israel uses this to define its EEZ with Cyprus
2011: Lebanon disputes Israeli-proposed line and submits documents to UN showing different EEZ. Cyprus offers to mediate without much progress.
2018: Lebanon signs first offshore oil and gas licencing deal with consortium of France’s Total, Italy’s Eni and Russia’s Novatek.
2018-2019: US seeks to mediate between Israel and Lebanon to prevent clashes over oil and gas resources.
IPL 2018 FINAL
Sunrisers Hyderabad 178-6 (20 ovs)
Chennai Super Kings 181-2 (18.3 ovs)
Chennai win by eight wickets
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
FIGHT%20CARD
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PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS
Bournemouth 1 Manchester City 2
Watford 0 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Newcastle United 3 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Southampton 0
Crystal Palace 0 Swansea City 2
Manchester United 2 Leicester City 0
West Bromwich Albion 1 Stoke City 1
Chelsea 2 Everton 0
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Burnley 1
Liverpool 4 Arsenal 0
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Naga
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
ASSASSIN'S%20CREED%20MIRAGE
%3Cp%3E%0DDeveloper%3A%20Ubisoft%20Bordeaux%0D%3Cbr%3EPublisher%3A%20Ubisoft%0D%3Cbr%3EConsoles%3A%20PlayStation%204%26amp%3B5%2C%20PC%20and%20Xbox%20Series%20S%26amp%3BX%0D%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
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
