LIVERPOOL // Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has backed Philippe Coutinho to take his game to the next level after he inspired the Reds to a 4-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in their final pre-season fixture at Anfield on Sunday.
Coutinho will be expected to carry much of Liverpool’s creative threat in the final third of the pitch following the record sale of Uruguay forward Luis Suarez to Barcelona.
Read more: Brendan Rodgers plots fresh title assault for Liverpool
The Brazilian capped a fine individual display against Dortmund with a goal and an assist and Rodgers predicted even more from the 22-year-old playmaker as Liverpool bid to go one better than last season, when they finished runners-up in the Premier League to Manchester City.
“He is so gifted as a player,” Rodgers said. “The supporters appreciated him against Dortmund because of the level of the opposition,” Rodgers said.
“His ability is magical in tight situations. He doesn’t get marked, tempts defenders out and his weight of passes.
“I just think he needs to add sustainability. He needs to do that on the big stage, and he’ll get that opportunity.”
The Northern Irishman added: “He will show at that level he’s a top player. It’s about sustaining that level of performance and doing that on the big stage.
“I see him over the next few years being a on the world level for Liverpool and Brazil.”
Coutinho was instrumental in Liverpool’s opening goal in the 10th minute when he played a first-time pass which sent Daniel Sturridge clear and he angled a shot past Dortmund goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak into the corner of the net.
Dortmund looked rusty and were punished for a lack of concentration from a Steven Gerrard corner five minutes later, with the unmarked Dejan Lovren allowed time and space to head home from inside the six-yard box.
Shortly after half-time the home side put the result beyond doubt when Raheem Sterling seized upon a misplaced pass and found the unmarked Coutinho who swivelled and then placed it into the net past the hapless Langerak.
Midfielder Jordan Henderson, who had been full of endeavour and energy throughout, tapped home Liverpool’s fourth from close range just after the hour mark.
Rodgers also praised Croatia centre-back Lovren, a pre-season signing from Southampton, who marshalled Liverpool’s defence with authority alongside Martin Skrtel.
“Dejan was perfect, what I’ve been looking for since Jamie Carragher left -- a dominant, number one centre-back, who reads it well, with good guidance of the back four and team -- and his qualities of range of passing too.
“Like he showed us last season he’s dominant in the box at the other end, and I thought he was excellent.
“And Javier Manquillo at 19 playing first game at Anfield having joined this week was very good too. He got tight to players and got forward as well.
“I was delighted with the result, Dortmund have been one of Europe’s top teams for three or four seasons.
“You saw the quality we have; we got four really good goals and could have had a few more.”
Follow our sports coverage on twitter at @SprtNationalUAE
Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
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
Six pitfalls to avoid when trading company stocks
Following fashion
Investing is cyclical, buying last year's winners often means holding this year's losers.
Losing your balance
You end up with too much exposure to an individual company or sector that has taken your fancy.
Being over active
If you chop and change your portfolio too often, dealing charges will eat up your gains.
Running your losers
Investors hate admitting mistakes and hold onto bad stocks hoping they will come good.
Selling in a panic
If you sell up when the market drops, you have locked yourself out of the recovery.
Timing the market
Even the best investor in the world cannot consistently call market movements.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mobile phone packages comparison
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20myZoi%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202021%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Syed%20Ali%2C%20Christian%20Buchholz%2C%20Shanawaz%20Rouf%2C%20Arsalan%20Siddiqui%2C%20Nabid%20Hassan%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2037%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Initial%20undisclosed%20funding%20from%20SC%20Ventures%3B%20second%20round%20of%20funding%20totalling%20%2414%20million%20from%20a%20consortium%20of%20SBI%2C%20a%20Japanese%20VC%20firm%2C%20and%20SC%20Venture%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
Results
2.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Mezmar, Adam McLean (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
3pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 2,000m; Winner: AF Ajwad, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel.
3.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Gold Silver, Sam Hitchcott, Ibrahim Aseel.
4pm: Maiden (PA) Dh40,000 1,000m; Winner: Atrash, Richard Mullen, Ana Mendez.
4.30pm: Gulf Cup Prestige (PA) Dh150,000 1,700m; Winner: AF Momtaz, Saif Al Balushi, Musabah Al Muhairi.
5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh40,000 1,200m; Winner: Al Mushtashar, Richard Mullen, Satish Seemar.
