Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella’s former teammates in England are both surprised and delighted at his success at the World Cup.
Sabella, whose Argentina face the Netherlands in Wednesday’s semi-final, came to England in 1978 in the shadow of more celebrated Argentinian World Cup-winning heroes Ossie Ardiles and Ricky Villa.
While Ardiles and Villa joined fashionable Tottenham Hotspur the then 24-year-old Sabella – who was not a member of the World Cup winning squad – arrived at unglamorous Second Division side Sheffield United for £160,000 from historic Argentinian side River Plate.
The talented midfielder had fallen for the charm of visionary United manager Harry Haslam, though, it is unlikely many of his training routines have filtered through to the way Sabella has coached the national side and sees them preparing for their first World Cup semi-final since 1990.
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One of his teammates from that time Steve Charles told Sheffield local paper The Star that it was a bit of a culture shock for both the Argentinian and the journeymen pros at the club when he rolled up.
“He was above our level, in all honesty,” said 54-year-old Charles, who made 156 appearances for United.
“But Alex was never flash, or ‘big time’, or anything like that. He kept himself mostly to himself, and he was a smart, gentle bloke with a good sense of humour,” added Charles.
Sabella, who took over at the helm after Argentina failed to win the Copa America on home soil in 2011, wouldn’t have struck Charles as a natural coach because of his reserved character at the time.
“He’s done really well for himself,” Charles continued.
“But I’m not surprised because he’s a top bloke, from a good footballing background. To be honest, at United I never had him down as a manager but it was a long time ago now.
“He was a quiet and reserved person, but he knows what he’s talking about as he’s been in the game such a long time.
Sabella, who won eight caps for Argentina, failed to ignite a revival in Sheffield United’s fortunes, indeed they were relegated to the Third Division and with a new stand to be paid for they had little option but to cash in on him.
Thus having rejected a move to Sunderland he agreed to go for the princely sum of £400,000 to another Yorkshire side, English heavyweights Leeds United, who were fighting to regain the heights they had enjoyed during the Don Revie era.
One of the Leeds players at the time, defender Paul Hart, said he was a pleasure to have around – he stayed till 1982 and made minimal impact with just two goals in 23 appearances.
But like Charles he also didn’t think of Sabella as management material at the time.
“It would be difficult to say any of us thought then we would go on to become managers,” Hart told the Daily Telegraph.
“It was not something you thought about as players. I would not have considered going into coaching myself at the time but it is credit to Alex he has made such excellent progress.
“I can remember in 1996 going to watch Argentina in a friendly against the Republic of Ireland and Alex was the assistant to the great centre-half Daniel Passarella, who was then in charge of the Argentina team.
“We had a great chat and he presented me with an Argentina jersey which I still treasure,” said the 61-year-old former Nottingham Forest and Queens Park Rangers manager.
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Dragons
Tries: Hayes, Richards, Cooper
Cons: Love
Pens: Love 3
Bahrain
Tries: Kenny, Crombie, Tantoh
Cons: Phillips
Pens: Phillips 2
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The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
