There’s not much you can hide from Roberto Martinez if he is your manager. The Spaniard with the amiable manner is a coach of rigour and detail. He’ll personally inspect hotels his team are scheduled to stay at, well ahead of their arriving there. He has on his laptop state-of-the-art technology full of live scouting reports from across the world on how his players are performing, or running, or resting.
Martinez, formerly of Swansea City, Wigan Athletic and Everton, brought the intensive, 24/7 approach of a club manager to his work with the Belgian national team between 2016 and 2022 and now does the same with Portugal. He may only gather his first-team squad together for isolated periods but his scrutiny and planning seldom ebbs.
Fair to report that after seven months in charge of a national squad with huge potential if you add up the sum of its gifted parts, Martinez has made quite the impact.
Portugal have booked their ticket to next summer’s Euro 2024, along with Belgium and France, earliest of anybody apart from hosts Germany and the manner of their qualifying sends out an ominous message. A 100 per cent record from their eight games; 32 goals scored and seven clean sheets.
There’s goodwill in those soaring statistics, too. When Portugal were knocked out of the Qatar World Cup last December, the combined creative influence of Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva and Joao Felix could not find a way past Morocco’s well-organised defence in the quarter-final.
Nor could Goncalo Ramos, the striker who in the previous match – a 6-1 thrashing of Switzerland – had scored a hat-trick. The then manager Fernando Santos, in his last game in charge, brought on Rafael Leao, Serie A’s reigning footballer of the year; he brought on Cristiano Ronaldo, and still they lost 1-0 to the Moroccans.
Martinez took over with several pending issues. Not least that three of Portugal’s major stars were in states of professional turmoil in their club careers.
Ronaldo, miffed at being left out of the starting XI in the second season of his second spell at Manchester United, had his contract abruptly terminated. He had sought a new employer who was involved the Uefa Champions League but could not come to an agreement with any European club.
He joined Al Nasr in Saudi Arabia instead. Having been relegated to the bench in Santos’s last two games in charge of the national team, his Portugal future, at the age of 38, was in serious doubt.
At the other end of the age scale, Joao Felix, the most expensive teenager in the game’s history when he left Benfica for Atletico Madrid in 2019, was suffering a double rejection.
He had fallen out with Atletico manager Diego Simeone. He joined Chelsea on loan in January. When Martinez took over Portugal, Felix was about to embark on a very rocky period in London, sent off on his Chelsea debut, suspended for three games, and by May, looking for a third different club to see out his 2023. It turned out to be Barcelona, where he started on loan in August.
Joao Cancelo was also involved in a rift. From his elevated status as chief assister of goals and emblem of the sort of positional versatility Pep Guardiola admires in his Manchester City players, Cancelo’s place in the City hierarchy plunged suddenly through the late autumn of 2022. Guardiola gave his blessing to a departure from City.
Cancelo joined Bayern Munich on loan, but by March, as Martinez was naming his first Portugal squad, he had appeared more often on the German club’s bench than in their starting XI. Like Joao Felix, Cancelo made Barcelona his third club in the space of eight months during the summer.
Fast forward to last Tuesday evening in Sarajevo. Bosnia-Herzegovina away is no cinch of a fixture. Portugal made it a breeze, with the footballers who spent large portions of the last 12 months feeling like misfits very much to the fore.
Joao Felix’s shot, blocked by a Bosnian arm, earned a fifth-minute penalty, converted by Ronaldo; Felix played the measured pass that gave Ronaldo his second quarter of an hour later – a goal that made CR7, who was unemployed at club level last December, the most prolific goalscorer across club and country, for 2023 so far. He has 40 this year, one more than Erling Haaland.
Cancelo started and spectacularly finished the move to make it 4-0 to Martinez’s fluent side. Joao Felix struck number five.
“It's about striving to always be at the highest level,” said Martinez, pleased with Ronaldo’s new landmark, and with his two Barcelona-based Joaos, Cancelo and Felix. “We saw examples of work, attitude, commitment, and character. Winning 5-0, winning eight in a row, that's something to be very happy about.”
The biog
Name: James Mullan
Nationality: Irish
Family: Wife, Pom; and daughters Kate, 18, and Ciara, 13, who attend Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS)
Favourite book or author: “That’s a really difficult question. I’m a big fan of Donna Tartt, The Secret History. I’d recommend that, go and have a read of that.”
Dream: “It would be to continue to have fun and to work with really interesting people, which I have been very fortunate to do for a lot of my life. I just enjoy working with very smart, fun people.”
The specs
Engine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 180hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm at 3,00rpm
Transmission: 5-speed sequential auto
Price: From Dh139,995
On sale: now
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,200m
Winner: Shafaf, Sam Hitchcott (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
5,30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 1,200m
Winner: Noof KB, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: The President’s Cup Listed (TB) Dh380,000 1,400m
Winner: Taamol, Jim Crowley, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
6.30pm: The President’s Cup Group One (PA) Dh2,500,000 2,200m
Winner: Rmmas, Tadhg O’Shea, Jean de Roualle
7pm: Arabian Triple Crown Listed (PA) Dh230,000 1,600m
Winner: Ihtesham, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 1,400m
Winner: AF Mekhbat, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EProcessor%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Apple%20M3%2C%208-core%20CPU%2C%20up%20to%2010-core%20CPU%2C%2016-core%20Neural%20Engine%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDisplay%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2013.6-inch%20Liquid%20Retina%2C%202560%20x%201664%2C%20224ppi%2C%20500%20nits%2C%20True%20Tone%2C%20wide%20colour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMemory%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%2F16%2F24GB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStorage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20256%2F512GB%20%2F%201%2F2TB%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EI%2FO%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Thunderbolt%203%2FUSB-4%20(2)%2C%203.5mm%20audio%2C%20Touch%20ID%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EConnectivity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Wi-Fi%206E%2C%20Bluetooth%205.3%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBattery%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2052.6Wh%20lithium-polymer%2C%20up%20to%2018%20hours%2C%20MagSafe%20charging%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECamera%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201080p%20FaceTime%20HD%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EVideo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Support%20for%20Apple%20ProRes%2C%20HDR%20with%20Dolby%20Vision%2C%20HDR10%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAudio%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204-speaker%20system%2C%20wide%20stereo%2C%20support%20for%20Dolby%20Atmos%2C%20Spatial%20Audio%20and%20dynamic%20head%20tracking%20(with%20AirPods)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColours%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Midnight%2C%20silver%2C%20space%20grey%2C%20starlight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20MacBook%20Air%2C%2030W%2F35W%20dual-port%2F70w%20power%20adapter%2C%20USB-C-to-MagSafe%20cable%2C%202%20Apple%20stickers%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh4%2C599%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae, Virgin megastores or call 800 86 823
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
