JOHANNESBURG // As Group A rivals France and Uruguay prepare to lock horns in Cape Town tonight, one word perfectly describes the respective dilemmas faced by both teams' camps as they ready for a World Cup showdown: balance. Or rather, the pursuit of it.
For France, reported clashes between young, emerging players and veterans have disrupted manager Raymond Domenech's preparations.
With France only getting to the finals courtesy of Thierry Henry's infamous handball in the second leg of European qualifiers against Ireland, public optimism in Les Bleus' South African fortunes took another knock last week.
The team, at full strength, suffered an embarrassing 1-0 friendly defeat to Asian minnows China.
In what will be his final international duty, Domenech, who will surrender the coaching role to Laurent Blanc, the World Cup-winning captain of 1998, following the end of the tournament, will want to go out on a high. To do so, he must find the right blend of energy and experience.
The difficulty in that job, according to Arsene Wenger, the French manager of English Premier League side Arsenal, is discovering the recipe in a punishing tournament format where France's opponents will look to frustrate the group favourites.
"The whole country has a feeling that we shouldn't be here and, as well as that, [the team] have not been convincing," Wenger said.
"France have good players, but they have not been convincing against poor teams - and by that I mean teams who defend very deep. When teams play deep and tight, we are not efficient enough.
"France have great players like [Nicolas] Anelka, [Franck] Ribery, [Florent] Malouda and [Yoann] Gourcuff, so I cannot see why we shouldn't be dangerous against any team."
A player not mentioned by Wenger was Thierry Henry. One of the squad's most seasoned professionals, France's all-time leading scorer has reportedly agreed to be deployed as what L'Equipe newspaper dubbed a "joker de luxe," or "super sub."
For Uruguay, the issue is not in-camp hostility, but deciphering the best formation to ensure a supply of ammunition for the potentially lethal strike-force of Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez. To attack effectively, Uruguay must consider their notoriously porous defence.
The World Cup squad won only once in eight matches - conceding 12 goals in the process - against the four other South American sides that have qualified for South Africa - Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Argentina.
Mindful of exerting undue pressure on his troops, Oscar Tabarez, the Uruguay coach, openly confessed his side's limitations. "Why would we be the favourites after being inconsistent in qualifying?" Tabarez said.
"We want to be seen as favourites, but we need to show why on the field."
With Domenech keeping his team's final complexion close to his chest, Tabarez surprisingly announced his starting line-up late on Wednesday evening. The former AC Milan coach named Mauricio Victorino, a third central defender, and midfield man Egidio Arevalo in his starting XI - the only two changes to the team that thumped Israel 4-1 last month.
Tabarez's 3-5-2 line-up should allow Uruguay to shift between three and five players in defence, depending on the flow of the match.
Arevalo joins Uruguay's captain Diego Lugano and Diego Godin at the back, where wing backs Maxi and Alvaro Pereira can provide further support if France take control.
"You have to keep in mind the strength of the rival, which is the starting point for all one can do defensively," Tabarez added. "We also have to put them under pressure when we have the ball. They won't dictate how we play our football, they will have a lot of respect for our team."
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FRANCE
URUGUAY
Group A analysis
? Luis Suarez v William Gallas
It cannot get any simpler: unstoppable striker versus immovable defender. Gallas will need to be at his commanding best to snuff out the threat of Suarez (below), but if the Uruguayan manages to transfer his superlative club form with Ajax to the international stage, Gallas could well end the World Cup's opening day on the losing side.
? Martin Cacares v Franck Ribery
France's Ribery, the Bayern Munich midfielder, will likely be handed a free role but the classy forward is guaranteed to pop up down his preferred left flank. Concentration will be key for Uruguay right-back Cacares; he most not get blindsided by the intelligent movement of France's chief attacking threat.
Tactical analysis
Expect early proceedings to be cagey. Uruguay will aim not to concede and, having struggled to gel during pre-tournament qualifiers, France will be wary of allowing nerves to restrict their possession-orientated play.
Player to watch
Luis Suarez: He was prolific for Ajax last season and with Diego Forlan a fitness doubt, the stage is set for him to shine.
Last meeting
The teams have played out two 0-0 draws in recent years. One was a friendly, in 2008. The other, more significantly, at the 2002 World Cup saw Thierry Henry sent off and France crash out at the group stages.
Did you know?
France were involved in the first ever World Cup match, a 4-1 win over Mexico in Uruguay in 1930. The hosts won the tournament, their first of two triumphs.
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Born in Dubai in 1994
Her father is a retired Emirati police officer and her mother is originally from Kuwait
She Graduated from the American University of Sharjah in 2015 and is currently working on her Masters in Communication from the University of Sharjah.
Her favourite film is Pacific Rim, directed by Guillermo del Toro
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Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
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Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
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The biog
Name: Greg Heinricks
From: Alberta, western Canada
Record fish: 56kg sailfish
Member of: International Game Fish Association
Company: Arabian Divers and Sportfishing Charters
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
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Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
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Name: Dhabia Khalifa AlQubaisi
Age: 23
How she spends spare time: Playing with cats at the clinic and feeding them
Inspiration: My father. He’s a hard working man who has been through a lot to provide us with everything we need
Favourite book: Attitude, emotions and the psychology of cats by Dr Nicholes Dodman
Favourit film: 101 Dalmatians - it remind me of my childhood and began my love of dogs
Word of advice: By being patient, good things will come and by staying positive you’ll have the will to continue to love what you're doing
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- 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
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Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
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Ashraf Ghani 50.64 per cent
Abdullah Abdullah 39.52 per cent
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar 3.85 per cent
Rahmatullah Nabil 1.8 per cent
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Sri Lanka-India Test series schedule
- 1st Test India won by 304 runs at Galle
- 2nd Test India won by innings and 53 runs at Colombo
- 3rd Test August 12-16 at Pallekele
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
What is a calorie?
A food calorie, or kilocalorie, is a measure of nutritional energy generated from what is consumed.
One calorie, is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C.
A kilocalorie represents a 1,000 true calories of energy.
Energy density figures are often quoted as calories per serving, with one gram of fat in food containing nine calories, and a gram of protein or carbohydrate providing about four.
Alcohol contains about seven calories a gram.
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.”
The biog
Favourite hobby: I love to sing but I don’t get to sing as much nowadays sadly.
Favourite book: Anything by Sidney Sheldon.
Favourite movie: The Exorcist 2. It is a big thing in our family to sit around together and watch horror movies, I love watching them.
Favourite holiday destination: The favourite place I have been to is Florence, it is a beautiful city. My dream though has always been to visit Cyprus, I really want to go there.
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
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Fixtures (all times UAE)
Saturday
Brescia v Atalanta (6pm)
Genoa v Torino (9pm)
Fiorentina v Lecce (11.45pm)
Sunday
Juventus v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Inter Milan v SPAL (6pm)
Lazio v Udinese (6pm)
Parma v AC Milan (6pm)
Napoli v Bologna (9pm)
Verona v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Monday
Cagliari v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
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