Late into Wednesday night, Omar Marmoush momentarily lost his way exiting the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
He was heading out of the away dressing room towards the Manchester City team bus and from there to a subdued flight home. It’s a bit of a maze down in the basement floors of Real Madrid’s redeveloped stadium. As City’s new man was there for the first time, he needed directions.
His next visit to the Bernabeu, Marmoush will doubtless have resolved, will turn out better all round.
By the time his rasping free-kick hit the Madrid crossbar, setting up a very late City goal, the tie had been utterly lost, Madrid knocking City out of the competition by 6-3 on aggregate.
Some time after Marmoush and his teammates had left, Kylian Mbappe was in the same exit corridor, showing off, to reporters, his match ball, signed by all his Madrid colleagues.
It was his memento for having scored all three home goals in the night’s 3-1 second leg. Hat-tricks give strikers some of their most prized souvenirs, but the afterglow can be brief. Only five days earlier Marmoush was celebrating his own treble in City's thrashing of Newcastle.
After the high of his first Etihad goals, the low of his first ever start in the Champions League, another major milestone hurries on to the diary of Marmoush – Sunday’s first taste of what has become the summit collision of the modern English Premier League City versus Liverpool.
This time it’s an especially resonant fixture for millions of Marmoush’s compatriots: His City against Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool, the two Egyptian stars centre stage.
One is the most expensive purchase of this Premier League season; the other may come to be judged among the most transformational signings ever made in the Premier League era. Yet again, Salah is leading the division’s goalscorers – 24 from 26 games so far.
If the Premier League table casts this City-Liverpool clash as a step in the deposing of City as champions – they trail leaders Liverpool by 17 points – the all-Egyptian duel perhaps foreshadows another passing of the baton.
Salah, at 32, may show very few signs of losing his speed and rapier finishing, but at some point he will yield his status as his country’s finest active footballer and the region’s most feted sporting export.
And Marmoush, 26, is shaping up as the heir, suddenly touching the sorts of peaks – he had struck 20 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt before his €75 million January move to City – that are almost routine for Salah.
“A majority believe Salah's records and consistency will leave his legacy untouchable,” says Amr Nageeb Fahmy, author of the newly published The Pharaohs’ Hegemony, a brilliant, detailed account of the Egypt national team’s domination of African football in the period up to 2010.
“But there may be a flame passing from Salah to Marmoush – if this is the last season for Mo at Liverpool and if he might be on his way to playing in the Middle East after the summer.”
Salah’s Liverpool contract expires in June, with no extension yet agreed. He has eager suitors in Saudi Arabia’s Pro League.
Marmoush and Salah have never before played a competitive fixture on opposite sides, a sign of how the football landscape has altered in the last decade and a half.
In that time, aiming for success in Europe became a focus for an aspiring Egyptian professional, often to a greater degree than achieving status with one of Cairo’s superclubs, with Al Ahly or Zamalek.
Neither Salah nor Marmoush played for either, Salah moving from Al Mokawloon to Basel in Switzerland at 20, Marmoush leaving Wadi Degla for Germany’s Wolfsburg as an 18-year-old.
The circumstances were distinct. Salah, pushing himself from a young age through long daily journeys to practice, was breaking into the senior level of the game at a time of national crisis, when incidents of stadium violence led to the suspension of Egypt’s league.
He had no choice but to accelerate his career elsewhere. That he would do so, via the odd setback – an unfulfilling spell at Chelsea – with such brilliance, first in Italy and then as the spearhead of a Liverpool that conquered Europe and the Premier League set down an aspirational pathway for others.
“Mohamed Salah is a role model for all the players, not just Omar Marmoush,” Mohamed Ghoraba, the Pharaohs’ team manager during the period Salah and Marmoush have coincided with Egypt, tells The National. “In the eight years he’s been at Liverpool, everyone has looked up to Salah.
“But what they have both done is open doors, to show there is no such thing as ‘impossible’. In the past we have sometimes had difficulties trusting ourselves to realise our full potential.
“The way Salah exploded on to the top of the sport changed that. With Omar Marmoush we now extend that timeline.
“People used to say Salah was like a one-off, that Egypt would wait another 20 or 25 years for another player like him. But then they see Marmoush’s success.
“That has a big effect on young players, and on families who can more clearly see a great future in football for their children.”
Salah and Marmoush’s backgrounds are very distinct in several respects, but, as athletes, they share plenty.
There’s the eye-catching pace, the purposeful direct running, Salah mostly from the right on to his preferred left foot, Marmoush the mirror of that. “They have many things in common,” says Ghoraba. “The speed, of course, but also the mentality.
“They are both very driven and have been throughout their development, and in their ambition to reach the top. Salah had to fight for everything he achieved from day one, and those who have come up after him know that.”
If Salah, with more than 100 caps for his country and a stack of medals and records from his career in club football, is the pioneer, he is also the careful guide to those following him in the national set-up.
Ghoraba has observed “a very fruitful and positive” relationship grow between the Liverpool legend and the City star-in-the-making.
“They recognise one another as a top player and they link up well,” he said. “But they both have humility and they come to play for Egypt with a lot of love for the jersey and the desire to put their stamp on it.”
That desire becomes ever fiercer as Salah approaches his mid-30s. He has become his country’s most globally admired sportsman in the 21st century but his senior Egypt career has peaked only at two runners-up places at the four Africa Cup of Nations he has been to.
The comparison with the so-called ‘golden generation’, the heroes of the Pharaoh hegemony is sharp. By the time Mohamed Aboutrika, the Egyptian star Salah grew up regarding as an idol, had reached the age Marmoush is now Aboutrika had won his first Afcon. By the time Aboutrika was the age Salah now is, Egypt had won three Afcons on the trot.
Fitness permitting, Egypt will go to the next Africa Cup of Nations finals, in December, with a peak-form Salah attacking from one flank, and Marmoush, easing into the role of leading Manchester City’s renaissance, sprinting in from the other. It sounds irresistible. It swells expectations.
“That puts a lot of pressure on them,” acknowledges Ghoraba. “The level of anger and aggression Salah has had to deal with when Egypt haven’t gone all the way in tournaments is very, very high. Omar may soon have to face the same issues.
“But, trust me, he can deal with it. He’s still young but he has the ambition to be a future leader of the team – and he’s a good guy.”
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
Coming 2 America
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones
3/5 stars
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Key facilities
- 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
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Teaching in coronavirus times
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
Results
6pm: Dubai Trophy – Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner: Silent Speech, William Buick (jockey), Charlie Appleby
(trainer)
6.35pm: Jumeirah Derby Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (T)
1,800m
Winner: Island Falcon, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
7.10pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (Dirt)
1,400m
Winner: Rawy, Mickael Barzalona, Salem bin Ghadayer
7.45pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner: Desert Fire, Hector Crouch, Saeed bin Suroor
8.20pm: Al Fahidi Fort – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Naval Crown, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.55pm: Dubawi Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $150,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Al Tariq, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watsons
9.30pm: Aliyah – Rated Conditions (TB) $80,000 (D) 2,000m
Winner: Dubai Icon, Patrick Cosgrave, Saeed bin Suroor
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
A Dog's Journey
Directed by: Gail Mancuso
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Josh Gad, Marg Helgenberger, Betty Gilpin, Kathryn Prescott
3 out of 5 stars
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
How to become a Boglehead
Bogleheads follow simple investing philosophies to build their wealth and live better lives. Just follow these steps.
• Spend less than you earn and save the rest. You can do this by earning more, or being frugal. Better still, do both.
• Invest early, invest often. It takes time to grow your wealth on the stock market. The sooner you begin, the better.
• Choose the right level of risk. Don't gamble by investing in get-rich-quick schemes or high-risk plays. Don't play it too safe, either, by leaving long-term savings in cash.
• Diversify. Do not keep all your eggs in one basket. Spread your money between different companies, sectors, markets and asset classes such as bonds and property.
• Keep charges low. The biggest drag on investment performance is all the charges you pay to advisers and active fund managers.
• Keep it simple. Complexity is your enemy. You can build a balanced, diversified portfolio with just a handful of ETFs.
• Forget timing the market. Nobody knows where share prices will go next, so don't try to second-guess them.
• Stick with it. Do not sell up in a market crash. Use the opportunity to invest more at the lower price.
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
BABYLON
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
RACE CARD
4.30pm: Maiden Dh80,000 1,400m
5pm: Conditions Dh80,000 1,400m
5.30pm: Liwa Oasis Group 3 Dh300,000 1,400m
6pm: The President’s Cup Listed Dh380,000 1,400m
6.30pm: Arabian Triple Crown Group 2 Dh300,000 2,200m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (30-60) Dh80,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Handicap (40-70) Dh80,000 1,600m.
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
The specs
Engine: 4-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: nine-speed
Power: 542bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh848,000
On sale: now
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Abu Dhabi traffic facts
Drivers in Abu Dhabi spend 10 per cent longer in congested conditions than they would on a free-flowing road
The highest volume of traffic on the roads is found between 7am and 8am on a Sunday.
Travelling before 7am on a Sunday could save up to four hours per year on a 30-minute commute.
The day was the least congestion in Abu Dhabi in 2019 was Tuesday, August 13.
The highest levels of traffic were found on Sunday, November 10.
Drivers in Abu Dhabi lost 41 hours spent in traffic jams in rush hour during 2019
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
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How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
