Iceland’s ascent to the brink of qualifying for their first major tournament has been increasingly on the cards, co-manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said yesterday as an expectant country anticipates achieving that goal on Sunday.
One victory from their last three Group A qualifiers will ensure a place at the 2016 European Championships in France for the Nordic nation.
“Some might think we have been a little naive but always it has always been our target and aim to qualify Iceland,” Hallgrimsson said following Thursday’s 1-0 win over the Netherlands.
“In the past, maybe it would have seemed strange to think we could come and beat a strong football power like Holland.
“But going so close in the play-offs against Croatia gave the players the belief we can achieve it,” he added, referring to Iceland reaching the 2014 World Cup qualification play-offs, where Croatia defeated them 2-0 on aggregate over two legs.
“We could smell going to Brazil. It gave everyone belief that has never been there before.”
Iceland’s victory in Amsterdam completed a double over the Netherlands and kept Iceland two points ahead of the Czech Republic at the top of the standings.
A win at home on Sunday against Kazakhstan, who have lost six of their seven qualifiers, will take Iceland to 21 points and confirm a top-two finish and a trip to France next year.
“Let’s hope we can do it. We are not there that yet but in a very good position in the group,” Hallgrimsson said.
Iceland must still play second-bottom Latvia at home in October and will complete the campaign away to Turkey.
Iceland’s newspapers on Friday encouraged supporters to begin booking their trips to next year’s finals.
In Amsterdam on Thursday, 3,000 travelling fans, about one per cent of the north Atlantic island nation’s population, were roaring their players to victory.
Netherlands
Midfielder Wesley Sneijder says the Netherlands cannot afford any more mistakes if they are to keep alive slim hopes of reaching Euro 2016.
The 2014 World Cup semi-finalists look all but out of contention for direct qualification after a 1-0 defeat to Group A leaders Iceland in Amsterdam, where Bruno Martins Indi was sent off in the first half.
Manager Danny Blind replaced Guus Hiddink last month after a poor start to the Euro 2016 campaign. He takes a squad missing injured Arjen Robben to Turkey on Sunday sitting in third place, six points behind the Czech Republic and another two off top spot.
Defeat at the Konya Torku Arena would let the Turks leapfrog the Dutch and, with only two matches left, almost certainly signal an end to a disappointing qualification effort.
Sneijder, who plays in Turkey with Galatasaray, says only victory will be good enough.
“We are now further away from the European Championship in France, that is clear, and it is something we have created ourselves. We must now stop Turkey taking the first step towards the play-offs but it will be a hard match,” he told De Telegraaf.
“The risks created by the kind of mistakes we made against Iceland will be much greater in Konya. The players and fans will do everything to make our lives difficult. We have to be a lot, lot sharper than we were on Thursday.”
Southampton defender Virgil van Dijk could receive his first senior cap to deputise for Indi, while Sunderland winger Jermaine Lens has been called up to replace Robben.
Turkey drew 1-1 against Latvia and remain in the hunt for third place.
Coach Fatih Terim said: “The atmosphere for the Holland game will be something else.
“It is our last chance. If we win, we will have the advantage in the race for third place. If we draw, we will have hope for the last two games.”
Germany
World Cup winners Germany are brimming with confidence ahead of Monday’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Scotland in Glasgow that could see them book their ticket for next year’s tournament after beating Poland 3-1 on Friday to take control of Group D.
A win against Scotland, combined with a defeat for Ireland against Georgia, would see the Germans open up a seven-point gap to the third-placed team with two matches remaining and secure a top-two finish and ticket to France next year, a completely different situation from only a few days ago. The top two teams from each group automatically qualify, with some teams who finish third going into play-offs.
“The Scots lost to Georgia and so at home, if they want to have a chance of qualifying, they must invest a bit more in attack,” Germany manager Joachim Loew said. “So we don’t expect to have such a defensive opponent as with Poland.”
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Baby Driver
Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Lily James
Three and a half stars
Ain Issa camp:
- Established in 2016
- Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
- Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
- Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
- 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
- NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
- One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
%20Ramez%20Gab%20Min%20El%20Akher
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Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
THE BIO:
Sabri Razouk, 74
Athlete and fitness trainer
Married, father of six
Favourite exercise: Bench press
Must-eat weekly meal: Steak with beans, carrots, broccoli, crust and corn
Power drink: A glass of yoghurt
Role model: Any good man
Company%20Profile
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
The%20specs
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BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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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
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
JOKE'S%20ON%20YOU
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Fight card
Preliminaries:
Nouredine Samir (UAE) v Sheroz Kholmirzav (UZB); Lucas Porst (SWE) v Ellis Barboza (GBR); Mouhmad Amine Alharar (MAR) v Mohammed Mardi (UAE); Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) v Spyro Besiri (GRE); Aslamjan Ortikov (UZB) v Joshua Ridgwell (GBR)
Main card:
Carlos Prates (BRA) v Dmitry Valent (BLR); Bobirjon Tagiev (UZB) v Valentin Thibaut (FRA); Arthur Meyer (FRA) v Hicham Moujtahid (BEL); Ines Es Salehy (BEL) v Myriame Djedidi (FRA); Craig Coakley (IRE) v Deniz Demirkapu (TUR); Artem Avanesov (ARM) v Badreddine Attif (MAR); Abdulvosid Buranov (RUS) v Akram Hamidi (FRA)
Title card:
Intercontinental Lightweight: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) v Angel Marquez (ESP)
Intercontinental Middleweight: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) v Francesco Iadanza (ITA)
Asian Featherweight: Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) v Phillip Delarmino (PHI)
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 fake news generation
288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year
11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general
31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate
63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.
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.
more from Janine di Giovanni
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
Results
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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.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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Price: On request
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
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