Rival bosses Simone Inzaghi and Sergio Conceicao paid tribute to Sven-Goran Eriksson and highlighted his influence on their careers ahead of the Italian Super Cup final in Riyadh.
Inzaghi, now the coach of Internazionale, and Conceicao, recently installed at the helm of city rivals AC Milan, won a league-and-cup double as teammates under the Swede Eriksson at Lazio during the 1999/2000 season.
Inzaghi would go on to spend 10 more seasons at the Rome club, while Conceicao departed for Parma before spending two seasons with Inter, the side he seeks to upset in Riyadh on Monday night (11pm UAE).
Eriksson, who himself left Lazio in 2001 for a high-profile five-year stint in charge of the England national team, died last August aged 76 and following a career in which he won 18 trophies in Sweden, Italy and Portugal.
He clearly left his mark on the two men who will occupy the dugouts at Al Awwal Park on Monday.
“Sven is in my heart and that of everyone who was in that Lazio team,” said the former Porto coach Conceicao, 50, who replaced the sacked Paulo Fonseca last week.
“I had a lot of great Italian coaches, such as [Arrigo] Sacchi and [Alberto] Malesani, and I learnt in the Italian school of coaching. It's an honour for me to be here now.”
Monday's game is not the first time the two former students of Eriksson have met, with the coaches clashing on the sidelines of a feisty Uefa Champions League last-16 tie in the 2022/23 season, when Conceicao's Porto lost 1-0 to Inter on aggregate. Inzaghi said the two have not spoken since but also played down the rift.
“We have not seen or spoken to each other since, but nothing extraordinary happened,” the 48-year-old Italian said.
“We were together for many years and shared a dressing room. We had a great teacher in our former Lazio coach Eriksson, who led many of us players into the coaching profession.”
Conceicao insisted that their shared history counted for much more than recent touchline skirmishes.
“I will definitely shake his hand,” said the former winger. “Back when I was at Porto there were incidents that are part of the game. Of course, I respect him.
“We are men of football, we played together and love each other. He will be my friend before and after the match. During the game, though, we will be opponents.”
Conceicao was visibly struggling with flu throughout Sunday's press briefing, but would no doubt be energised by landing a trophy in only his second game in charge. The first was a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Juventus in the Super Cup semi-final last Thursday.
“I hope the team is better than me. We're preparing for a final against a strong side who have been successful in recent years,” added the Milan boss.
“They've had the same coach for a while and the players know each other. We need to focus on ourselves. We have had a day less to rest and four or five players who aren't fully fit.”
Among that number is winger Rafael Leao, who has missed the last two games with a muscle injury.
“We will have to assess the situation. He is definitely not at 100 per cent to play 90 minutes. I’ll make a decision after training,” Conceicao said of the Portuguese international.
Forward Marcus Thuram is also doubtful for holders Inter, having sustained a thigh injury during Thursday's 2-0 semi-final win over Atalanta.
That victory, secured courtesy of Denzel Dumfries' double, plus the fact that Inter are aiming to lift the Super Cup for a record-equalling fourth consecutive year, sees them start as healthy favourites at Al Awwal Park, the home of Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr and their captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, when the sides met in Serie A back in September, it was Milan who claimed a 2-1 victory – a fact not lost on Inter's Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez.
“For us, coming and playing here has been important in the past finals because we won the trophy and also because I scored,” said Martinez, referencing his goals in each of Inter's last two Saudi-hosted Super Cup victories.
“It was great to have managed to score in both finals played here. Tomorrow it’s an important game because it’s the derby. We need to prepare to be at our best in the game. Atalanta was a physical game, but I feel very confident that we will make a good performance.
“We are good as a group, as a team. This is important, given that we face a strong team, and one that has beaten us so far in the league. We will try to bring the trophy home, which is what we all want.
“It’s a final, a derby, and we all know how important it is. This is the first trophy we face, the first goal of the year. As we always say, we play to win every competition. I’m calm, even if a goal doesn’t come. I have other teammates who are scoring. Inter has to win, and that’s the only thing that matters.”
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How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
Rating: 1 out of 4
Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
ARSENAL IN 1977
Feb 05 Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland
Feb 12 Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal
Feb 15 Middlesbrough 3-0 Arsenal
Feb 19 Arsenal 2-3 West Ham
Feb 26 Middlesbrough 4-1 Arsenal (FA Cup)
Mar 01 Everton 2-1 Arsenal
Mar 05 Arsenal 1-4 ipswich
March 08 Arsenal 1-2 West Brom
Mar 12 QPR 2-1 Arsenal
Mar 23 Stoke 1-1 Arsenal
Apr 02 Arsenal 3-0 Leicester
MATCH INFO
Chelsea 0
Liverpool 2 (Mane 50', 54')
Red card: Andreas Christensen (Chelsea)
Man of the match: Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 3
Danilo (16'), Bernardo Silva (34'), Fernandinho (72')
Brighton & Hove Albion 1
Ulloa (20')
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
Europe's top EV producers
- Norway (63% of cars registered in 2021)
- Iceland (33%)
- Netherlands (20%)
- Sweden (19%)
- Austria (14%)
- Germany (14%)
- Denmark (13%)
- Switzerland (13%)
- United Kingdom (12%)
- Luxembourg (10%)
Source: VCOe
MATCH INFO
Rugby World Cup (all times UAE)
Final: England v South Africa, Saturday, 1pm
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German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
The Two Popes
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Jonathan Pryce
Four out of five stars
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
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THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
