History places an obligation on the clubs who contest Wednesday's Uefa Super Cup to entertain. Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt have met only once before in a competitive context, but so thrilling was that encounter it was dubbed ‘Match of the Century’. The label stayed attached to the epic 1960 European Cup final, won 7-3 by Madrid, through most of the remaining years of the 20th century.
Ferenc Puskas scored four that day and Alfredo Di Stefano grabbed a hat-trick but Madrid had to impose their authority after falling behind. Modern Real also perform stirring comebacks: They are in Helsinki today by virtue of a fifth Champions League title in the last nine years, which they captured after a rollercoaster ride towards the final against Liverpool.
A reminder: Madrid were behind on the aggregate scoreline deep into each of their knockout ties: In the last 16 against Paris Saint-Germain, which featured five goals; in a quarter-final against Chelsea that had nine; and in the semi-final, where Madrid and Manchester City shared 11 goals.
Eintracht cultivated their own cliff-edge suspense on the way to claiming the Europa League, via a penalty shoot-out in the final against Glasgow Rangers. They had let leads slip in see-saw knockout ties against Real Betis and Barcelona, with whom they shared seven goals across the quarter-final. Ominously for the German club, the loose habits that were part of their adventure appear to have remained. Eintracht lost their opening match of the Bundesliga season at the weekend 6-1 to Bayern Munich.
Madrid will only begin their defence of their Spanish Liga title this Sunday but head coach Carlo Ancelotti insists that the Super Cup is no mere warm-up. “We have six titles in play this season and we want to fight for all of them,” said the Italian, surveying the long menu of commitments in the 10 months ahead: the defence of the Champions League and La Liga, plus the Spanish Super Cup, the Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup.
In his mind is also the impact of the Qatar World Cup on Madrid’s crowded schedule. With the exception of David Alaba, the Austrian defender, all Madrid’s senior players would expect to be involved with their national teams in Qatar in November and December.
Set against that heavy burden of fixtures, Madrid’s summer recruitment so far can look sparse. The club have spent heavily on one new signing - 22-year-old France international midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni at over €100m from Monaco. But so far in this transfer window, they only significantly reinforced one other area of the pitch, with the addition of Antonio Rudiger, who, having come to the end of his contract at Chelsea, will vie for a place in central defence alongside Alaba and Eder Miltao.
Tchouameni and compatriot Edu Camavinga, 19 and maturing fast, are reassuring successors for the time when the long-serving midfield trio of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro, all now in their 30s, need rest or slip down Ancelotti’s hierarchy. But there are few obvious back-ups to the other stellar veteran Karim Benzema, who since turning 34 in December has had his best period as a Madrid striker. Benzema is at the sharp end of the calendar’s relentless demands, spearheading Madrid’s pursuit of prizes and France’s bid to retain the World Cup.
Ancelotti points to the huge progress of Vinicius Junior as a reason not to fear any Benzema absence with injury or dip in form. The Brazilian winger had a brilliant 2021-22, and capped it with the only goal of the Champions League final.
To score the winner on occasions like that is to guarantee a place in history. To do so while very young - Vinicius turned 22 last month - is also to draw scrutiny for the remainder of a career. Just ask Mario Gotze, who eight summers ago struck the winning goal in a World Cup final for Germany. Gotze was 22 at the time. He would reluctantly reflect that there have been no comparable high points for him since. He has suffered illness, several injury lay-offs, and moved downwards, from Bayern Munich, to Borussia Dortmund and then to PSV Eindhoven since his moment of glory.
This summer, Gotze transferred again, to Eintracht, where he has an early chance to appear in a showpiece final. “The World Cup is eight years ago but it’s always created a lot of noise around Mario,” said Oliver Glasner, the Eintracht head coach. “It doesn’t help him. But he’s calm and has unbelievable talent. We can offer him the stage to display it.”
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
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Euro 2020
Group A: Italy, Switzerland, Wales, Turkey
Group B: Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland
Group C: Netherlands, Ukraine, Austria,
Georgia/Kosovo/Belarus/North Macedonia
Group D: England, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Scotland/Israel/Norway/Serbia
Group E: Spain, Poland, Sweden,
N.Ireland/Bosnia/Slovakia/Ireland
Group F: Germany, France, Portugal,
Iceland/Romania/Bulgaria/Hungary
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How Apple's credit card works
The Apple Card looks different from a traditional credit card — there's no number on the front and the users' name is etched in metal. The card expands the company's digital Apple Pay services, marrying the physical card to a virtual one and integrating both with the iPhone. Its attributes include quick sign-up, elimination of most fees, strong security protections and cash back.
What does it cost?
Apple says there are no fees associated with the card. That means no late fee, no annual fee, no international fee and no over-the-limit fees. It also said it aims to have among the lowest interest rates in the industry. Users must have an iPhone to use the card, which comes at a cost. But they will earn cash back on their purchases — 3 per cent on Apple purchases, 2 per cent on those with the virtual card and 1 per cent with the physical card. Apple says it is the only card to provide those rewards in real time, so that cash earned can be used immediately.
What will the interest rate be?
The card doesn't come out until summer but Apple has said that as of March, the variable annual percentage rate on the card could be anywhere from 13.24 per cent to 24.24 per cent based on creditworthiness. That's in line with the rest of the market, according to analysts
What about security?
The physical card has no numbers so purchases are made with the embedded chip and the digital version lives in your Apple Wallet on your phone, where it's protected by fingerprints or facial recognition. That means that even if someone steals your phone, they won't be able to use the card to buy things.
Is it easy to use?
Apple says users will be able to sign up for the card in the Wallet app on their iPhone and begin using it almost immediately. It also tracks spending on the phone in a more user-friendly format, eliminating some of the gibberish that fills a traditional credit card statement. Plus it includes some budgeting tools, such as tracking spending and providing estimates of how much interest could be charged on a purchase to help people make an informed decision.
* Associated Press
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 1 (Rashford 36')
Liverpool 1 (Lallana 84')
Man of the match: Marcus Rashford (Manchester United)
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
Ticket prices
General admission Dh295 (under-three free)
Buy a four-person Family & Friends ticket and pay for only three tickets, so the fourth family member is free
Buy tickets at: wbworldabudhabi.com/en/tickets
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
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The biog
Occupation: Key marker and auto electrician
Hometown: Ghazala, Syria
Date of arrival in Abu Dhabi: May 15, 1978
Family: 11 siblings, a wife, three sons and one daughter
Favourite place in UAE: Abu Dhabi
Favourite hobby: I like to do a mix of things, like listening to poetry for example.
Favourite Syrian artist: Sabah Fakhri, a tenor from Aleppo
Favourite food: fresh fish
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Company%20profile
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Company%20profile
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
When December 14-17
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
