Germany will take on Chile in Sunday's Confederations Cup final feeling like they have already won the tournament after a fine run with a second-string team has yielded several prospects for next year's World Cup defence.
Coach Joachim Low is not a huge fan of a the eight-team event that acts as a dress rehearsal for the subsequent year's World Cup and he opted to rest many of his first-choice players for the Russia tournament rather than shorten their off-season.
Among those missing are Mats Hummels, Jerome Boateng, Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira, Manuel Neuer and Marco Reus as Loew opted to take a team made up of young hopefuls keen to gain valuable tournament experience with 2018 in mind.
Low got more than he bargained for, however, and will be spoilt for choice on Sunday with several players, such as joint top-scorers Leon Goretzka and Timo Werner, and Lars Stindl, showing great promise at the Russian event.
While a title against the South American champions, which would be Germany's first in this competition, would be more than welcome, Loew is more interested in preserving team spirit ahead of the showdown in St Petersburg.
"The boys are having fun, they are hungry for success," Loew told reporters. "You can really feel that. I think what we are seeing is the creation of a team here."
It is this team spirit that has carried the Germans through the tournament after Loew's squad selection initially raised eyebrows with the team having never played together before.
"Chile are the strongest opponents in this tournament, we know them pretty well and we expect them to go for it in the final," added Low, whose team drew 1-1 with the South Americans in a group stage encounter.
"They will be trying flat out to pull it off, as they are coming to the end of their season, and we will have to try and counter that.
"We know the Chileans are flexible in their game. They have been pursuing their own style for many years now, a very good and positive development."
Hard-working Chile will again seek to challenge Germany for possession using a high-octane pressing game orchestrated by Alexis Sanchez but a better conversion rate of any chances that come their way is crucial to their hopes of success.
They wasted a number of good opportunities in the semi-final against Portugal before edging out the European champions on penalties to reach their third final in three years after Copa America successes in 2015 and 2016.
"We are from a country that might not be used to these kind of situations," captain Claudio Bravo said of Sunday's final.
"So, by playing football, we have the chance to make our people happy so they can forget about their problems. That's the most beautiful thing of all," the goalkeeper added.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENetflix%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EKris%20Fade%2C%20Ebraheem%20Al%20Samadi%2C%20Zeina%20Khoury%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What is type-1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic and unavoidable condition, rather than the lifestyle-related type 2 diabetes.
It occurs mostly in people under 40 and a result of the pancreas failing to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugars.
Too much or too little blood sugar can result in an attack where sufferers lose consciousness in serious cases.
Being overweight or obese increases the chances of developing the more common type 2 diabetes.
The Sky Is Pink
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Three stars
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
THE%20SPECS
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
Scoreline
Arsenal 3
Aubameyang (28'), Welbeck (38', 81')
Red cards: El Neny (90' 3)
Southampton 2
Long (17'), Austin (73')
Red cards: Stephens (90' 2)
Company%20Profile
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