A week after Morocco’s dispiriting exit from the Africa Cup of Nations, more salt into the wounds.
As the standard-bearers for Arab and African football watch from afar as a tournament in which they were expected to reach the final continues without them, a long-term project appears to be slipping beyond their reach.
He is Brahim Diaz, the gifted Real Madrid playmaker, who spent Sunday evening wowing the Bernabeu stadium in a Madrid derby that had cast him unexpectedly into the limelight and put his international future under renewed discussion.
Brahim had been due to start against Atletico on the substitutes' bench. The winger Vinicius Junior then sustained an injury shortly before kick off and Brahim was thrust into the starting XI.
He has had a good 2024 so far. It was about to get even better.
Twenty minutes in, he scored the game’s opening goal, all nimble footwork and a composed, chipped finish. He might have added a second before half time, and when, with a little under 20 minutes left, Brahim was withdrawn by manager Carlo Ancelotti, there were some perplexed noises from around the Bernabeu.
He was, by a wide consensus, the home side’s man of the match. Without him, Real lost some of their momentum. They lost two points, too, conceding a late Atletico equaliser.
Real and Atletico have played each other three times already this calendar year, in three competitions; Brahim has been Real’s jewel in the duels. He came on nine minutes from full-time during a wild Spanish Super Cup semi-final in Riyadh, with Atletico leading 3-2.
A Brahim run opened up the space for an equaliser. A zippy, determined Brahim run and angled strike from 25 yards out sealed a 5-3 win in extra-time. Real went on to win the final against Barcelona.
This is Brahim Abdelkader Diaz’s second spell at Madrid, a fresh peak in a career that, for a player of only 24, has packed in a lot. He was the prodigy scouted by Manchester City at 16 and part of a Premier League-winning campaign before he turned 19.
He had a Liga winners’ medal at the end of his first full season, 2019/20, after joining Madrid. Seeking more regular starts, he joined AC Milan on loan, a deal that was renewed to extend to three seasons in all. He was a key contributor to Milan winning Serie A in 2022 and reaching the Champions League semi-final a year later.
Through much of this hopscotching from one leading club to another, there has been an continuing tug-of-war over Brahim’s senior international career.
He was born in Malaga, Spain, to a Moroccan father and Spanish mother, has represented Spain across several age groups as his career developed and played one senior friendly for Spain in 2021. None of which prohibits him exercising his right, as a Moroccan citizen, to play for the Atlas Lions.
Morocco’s manager, Walid Regragui, has spoken extensively to Brahim, and made persuading the player a priority from almost as soon as he took over the role 18 months ago.
A place in the 2022 World Cup squad was offered to Brahim, but he paused on it. Morocco promptly knocked out his native Spain and then Portugal to make history as the first African or Arab nation in a World Cup semi-final.
Regragui, who has successfully brought in a number of dual-nationals to his Morocco squad, was back in touch with Brahim after the Qatar World Cup.
Brahim explained he felt a genuine dilemma and wanted time to decide between Spain, where his former under-21s coach, Luis de la Fuente, took over as manager last year, and a soaring Morocco. He said the same to De la Fuente.
Both coaches have become weary of the waiting. Regragui can hardly have helped feeling frustrated over the past two weeks, while Brahim was shining for Madrid and Morocco’s Afcon campaign in Ivory Coast was turning sour.
Regragui has long envisaged – and described in detail to the player – the sort of creative role Brahim might play in a Morocco side with a clear shape and structure.
He would be the kind of game-changer that Morocco so lacked this time last week, when, with Hakim Ziyech and Sofiane Boufal missing with injury, they were unexpectedly outwitted in Afcon’s last-16 round by South Africa, 2-0 victors over Regragui’s World Cup heroes.
Word from those close to Brahim is the procrastination is soon to end. His Madrid form has convinced De la Fuente that Brahim would be an asset for Spain at this summer’s European Championship.
But, signalling his impatience with the unresolved tug-of-war, De la Fuente said: “Anyone who joins the Spain team has to come with total commitment, and not with the threat of ‘if you don’t pick me, I’ll go somewhere else’.”
Fitness permitting, the plan is that Spain call up Brahim for next month’s internationals, and that he answers “yes”, at the expense of Morocco.
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
More from our neighbourhood series:
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South Africa v India schedule
Tests: 1st Test Jan 5-9, Cape Town; 2nd Test Jan 13-17, Centurion; 3rd Test Jan 24-28, Johannesburg
ODIs: 1st ODI Feb 1, Durban; 2nd ODI Feb 4, Centurion; 3rd ODI Feb 7, Cape Town; 4th ODI Feb 10, Johannesburg; 5th ODI Feb 13, Port Elizabeth; 6th ODI Feb 16, Centurion
T20Is: 1st T20I Feb 18, Johannesburg; 2nd T20I Feb 21, Centurion; 3rd T20I Feb 24, Cape Town
Friday's schedule at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
GP3 qualifying, 10:15am
Formula 2, practice 11:30am
Formula 1, first practice, 1pm
GP3 qualifying session, 3.10pm
Formula 1 second practice, 5pm
Formula 2 qualifying, 7pm
Bharat
Director: Ali Abbas Zafar
Starring: Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Sunil Grover
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8
Transmission: nine-speed automatic
Power: 630bhp
Torque: 900Nm
Price: Dh810,000
Abu Dhabi race card
5pm Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
5.30pm Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige | Dh110,000 | 1,400m
6pm Abu Dhabi Championship Listed | Dh180,000 | 1,600m
6.30pm Maiden | Dh80,000 | 1,600m
7pm Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap | Dh80,000 | 1,400m
7.30pm Handicap (TB) |Dh100,000 | 2,400m
THE SPECS
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 258hp at 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,550-4,400rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.4L/100km
Price, base: from D215,000 (Dh230,000 as tested)
On sale: now
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Cologne v Hoffenheim (11.30pm)
Saturday
Hertha Berlin v RB Leipzig (6.30pm)
Schalke v Fortuna Dusseldof (6.30pm)
Mainz v Union Berlin (6.30pm)
Paderborn v Augsburg (6.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Borussia Dortmund (9.30pm)
Sunday
Borussia Monchengladbach v Werder Bremen (4.30pm)
Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen (6.30pm)
SC Freiburg v Eintracht Frankfurt (9on)
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
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
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Vaccine Progress in the Middle East
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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
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The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight Championship AJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba
VERSTAPPEN'S FIRSTS
Youngest F1 driver (17 years 3 days Japan 2014)
Youngest driver to start an F1 race (17 years 166 days – Australia 2015)
Youngest F1 driver to score points (17 years 180 days - Malaysia 2015)
Youngest driver to lead an F1 race (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest driver to set an F1 fastest lap (19 years 44 days – Brazil 2016)
Youngest on F1 podium finish (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest F1 winner (18 years 228 days – Spain 2016)
Youngest multiple F1 race winner (Mexico 2017/18)
Youngest F1 driver to win the same race (Mexico 2017/18)
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
