For someone about to celebrate their birthday and whose team had just qualified for the knockout stages of the Fifa Club World Cup, it was a visibly frustrated Lionel Messi after the final whistle at Hard Rock Stadium.
Inter Miami had been cruising at 2-0 up against Palmeiras with 10 minutes to go, only for the Brazilians to grab two late goals to snatch a point and deny the MLS side all three points.
More importantly, it meant Miami had missed out on top spot in Group A, and that instead of taking on another Brazilian side in Botafogo in the last 16, it would be newly crowned Uefa Champions League winners – and Messi's former club – Paris Saint-Germain up next.
It had been vintage Messi – who turned 38 on Tuesday - in their previous game when the World Cup winner, and eight-time Ballon d'Or winner, had curled home a trademark free-kick to secure victory over Porto, after Miami opened the tournament with a disappointing goalless draw with Al Ahly.
Beating the Portuguese outfit meant Miami had created history by becoming the first Concacaf team to defeat a European side in an official Fifa tournament, but repeating the trick against the might of PSG is a far trickier prospect.
“If we make these mistakes against PSG we will pay a heavy price,” admitted Luis Suarez, who scored a brilliant second goal against Palmeiras and won the player-of-the-match award.
Messi joined Miami in the summer of 2023 after leaving Paris following a difficult spell which had ended with a fractured relationship between the player and PSG fans.
The Argentine had scored 32 goals and assisted in a further 35 in 75 games, while also helping PSG win the Ligue 1 title in both his seasons spent in Paris between 2021 and 2023.
But in a team of galactico signings – that also included the likes of Sergio Ramos, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe – PSG's failure to make it beyond the Champions League last 16 meant the Messi era was considered a failure.
The fact that Messi was also suspended for two weeks by the club for an unauthorised trip to Saudi Arabia – for which he later apologised – only added to the tensions.
“I went through two years which I didn't enjoy,” recalled Messi in an interview earlier this year. “I wasn't happy on a daily basis, with the training, the matches. I had a hard time adapting to all that.”
Miami coach Javier Mascherano is confident his former Barcelona and Argentina teammate can channel those memories into helping his current side produce what would be a major shock in the US.
“It's clear that it would better for us if he was angry, because he's one of those players who, when he has something in mind, gives a bit extra,” Mascherano told ESPN.
“In the end, what Leo wants is to win games, like the great player that he is,” added Miami teammate Jordi Alba. “He was there for two years and only he knows what happened.”
Adding to the intrigue of Sunday's game in Atlanta (kicking off 11pm UAE time) is the fact PSG are managed by former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique.
Barca boys turned Miami men Macherano, Alba, Messi, Suarez and Sergio Busquets were all part of Luis Enrique's 2015 team that secured the Catalan giants a memorable treble – a feat the Spaniard has just repeated with PSG. And the respect they have for their old manager is clear.
“I've said it infinite times: For me, he's the best – I think not just as a coach, but also how he manages the group,” said left-back Alba.
“He's a phenomenon. I'm excited to see him, as well as his entire staff. I'll give him a hug but when the ref blows the opening whistle, try to beat him.”
“He's a coach who influenced me greatly,” added striker Suarez. “I already had a competitive DNA, but he injected even more into me.”
Luis Enrique's stock has never been higher following their magnificent 5-0 demolition job over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, although there have been bumps in road as they hunt a quadruple.
The Parisians started their Group B fixtures with a 4-0 thrashing of Atletico Madrid only to then fall to a shock loss to Botafogo before defeating Seattle Sounders and clinching a last-16 clash with Miami.
“Our coach is incredible,” Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves told Fifa.com after the Seattle win. “He gives us confidence, he gives us freedom, but with responsibility. Possession is what matters most.
“He wants us to have the ball and make the other team run. And when we don’t have it, we have to get it back quickly. It doesn’t matter who the opposing team is, it’s always the same: it’s eleven against eleven. We all attack, we all defend.”
The exit of Mbappe last summer marked the end of an era at PSG, with Luis Enrique putting his faith in hungry young players rather than big-name signings.
That is not to say PSG have stopped spending money, far from it, but they are now investing in younger talent.
Arrivals over the past 12 months include Neves for €60 million, forward Desire Doue for €59m – both aged 20 – while €70m was forked out in January for 24-year-old winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
“I’ve never said I don’t want stars, I want a team full of good players,” insists Luis Enrique. “We don’t want players who come and act like they’re doing us some kind of favour.
“It should be just the opposite: we want players who are hungry, who want to come to a one-of-a-kind club like PSG, to a one-of-a-kind city and a one-of-a-kind country, players who want to write their names in the club’s history books.”
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
Other ways to buy used products in the UAE
UAE insurance firm Al Wathba National Insurance Company (AWNIC) last year launched an e-commerce website with a facility enabling users to buy car wrecks.
Bidders and potential buyers register on the online salvage car auction portal to view vehicles, review condition reports, or arrange physical surveys, and then start bidding for motors they plan to restore or harvest for parts.
Physical salvage car auctions are a common method for insurers around the world to move on heavily damaged vehicles, but AWNIC is one of the few UAE insurers to offer such services online.
For cars and less sizeable items such as bicycles and furniture, Dubizzle is arguably the best-known marketplace for pre-loved.
Founded in 2005, in recent years it has been joined by a plethora of Facebook community pages for shifting used goods, including Abu Dhabi Marketplace, Flea Market UAE and Arabian Ranches Souq Market while sites such as The Luxury Closet and Riot deal largely in second-hand fashion.
At the high-end of the pre-used spectrum, resellers such as Timepiece360.ae, WatchBox Middle East and Watches Market Dubai deal in authenticated second-hand luxury timepieces from brands such as Rolex, Hublot and Tag Heuer, with a warranty.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: seven-speed auto
Power: 420 bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: from Dh293,200
On sale: now
MORE ON THE US DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
ENGLAND SQUAD
Team: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Sam Simmonds
Replacements 16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Jack Nowell
The Kingfisher Secret
Anonymous, Penguin Books
ENGLAND TEAM
Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
- The introduction of tariffs could hinder the US's clean energy initiatives by raising input costs for materials like nickel
- US domestic suppliers might benefit from higher prices, but overall oil consumption is expected to decrease due to elevated costs
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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.
more from Janine di Giovanni
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FIXTURES
December 28
Stan Wawrinka v Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Milos Raonic v Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 29 - semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Stan Wawrinka / Pablo Carreno Busta, 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Milos Raonic / Dominic Thiem, no earlier then 7pm
December 30
3rd/4th place play-off, 5pm
Final, 7pm
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
