At the end of our interview, Robert Enke offers to drive me down to the commuter train station at Neustadt. He knows the timetable by heart, as he regularly takes the local train from the small village where he lives to Hannover, even now he is Germany's No 1 goalkeeper.
If it needed any proof that Enke, 32, who sat out Germany's World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan last night with flu, is special, it would be the image of one of the country's star performers sitting between locals on a commuter train. But of course it does not need any further evidence.
His whole life is living proof that Enke, of Bundesliga club Hannover 96, is in many ways a unique goalkeeper.
In a country that prides itself on turning out physically - as well as verbally - commanding goalkeepers, Enke is held in the same high regard as his more outlandish and outspoken predecessors such as Oliver Khan and Jens Lehmann, even if the German media have labelled him as too soft and polite, a thinly veiled barb that perhaps he does not have the character to occupy the role as the team's last line of defence.
Enke though, refuses to change. "I will never speak badly about my rivals for the No 1 spot or play mind games with them. I know what respect is," says Enke.
He was made captain of Benfica aged 23 and was courted by a host of Europe's premier sides before opting to join Spanish giants Barcelona in 2002. He failed to make the grade in Catalonia and was farmed out on loan two years later to Fenerbahce in Turkey. But the experience was far from a happy one and Enke refused to play for them after his lone appearance - a 3-0 defeat to Istanbulspor - after fans pelted him with bottles and blamed him for the loss.
"I just felt totally out of place in Turkey with the exaggerted passion of the fans and the club. I felt absolutely lonely and deeply sad."
In January 2004, Tenerife, in Spain's second tier, decided to take a punt on Enke and he has not looked back.
He joined Hannover six months later where he established himself not only as first choice for the club but as one of the country's standout performers which has seen him voted the best goalkeeper in the league by his fellow professionals in Kicker magazine earlier this year.
Enke's climb to the top has seen him slip down a few rungs on the ladder along the way, something he is quick to ackowledge.
"I suppose, it has to be my destiny that everything in my career has to be weird," he says. "Just sometimes, I wished it would have been a tiny bit easier."
When he says it, while driving me to the station, I instinctively look down to the key in the car. On the key-ring there is a picture of his daughter Lara. She was born with a cardiac defect.
Her first few months were spent in intensive care. Enke lived between the training-pitch and the hospital - images he does not find easy to forget. "Lara, my wife and me sitting in the deserted hospital canteen on Christmas Eve eating mushy salmon," was one vivid memory of what should have been one of the Enke family's more happier times of year.
Lara, a survivor very much in the mould of her father, survived three life-threatening operations before she reached the age of two.
On September 17, 2006, just after her second birthday, she died after ear-surgery which was supposed to be routine, but she suffered complications.
Enke has never spoken about her death publicly, preferring instead to only speak about his pain to close friends, family and to people who got to know her.
"Remember the photos of her we looked at yesterday. She was smiling on every second picture. She was such a happy and brave girl."
Lara's death has taught him something: "I don't want to minimalise football, the sport is very important to me and I am very ambitious. But at the end, it is always just football."
sports@thenational.ae
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FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
Fiorentina v Torino (8pm)
Hellas Verona v Roma (10.45pm)
Sunday
Parma v Napoli (2.30pm)
Genoa v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (8pm)
Juventus v Sampdoria (10.45pm)
Monday
AC Milan v Bologna (10.45om)
Playing September 30
Benevento v Inter Milan (8pm)
Udinese v Spezia (8pm)
Lazio v Atalanta (10.45pm)
Brief scores:
Manchester City 3
Aguero 1', 44', 61'
Arsenal 1
Koscielny 11'
Man of the match: Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, second leg:
Liverpool (0) v Barcelona (3), Tuesday, 11pm UAE
Game is on BeIN Sports
The specs: 2018 Kia Picanto
Price: From Dh39,500
Engine: 1.2L inline four-cylinder
Transmission: Four-speed auto
Power: 86hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 122Nm @ 4,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 6.0L / 100km
ANATOMY%20OF%20A%20FALL
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The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands
50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias
Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match
WWE World Heavyweight Championship AJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura
Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt
Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho
Singles match John Cena v Triple H
Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba
GULF MEN'S LEAGUE
Pool A Dubai Hurricanes, Bahrain, Dubai Exiles, Dubai Tigers 2
Pool B Abu Dhabi Harlequins, Jebel Ali Dragons, Dubai Knights Eagles, Dubai Tigers
Opening fixtures
Thursday, December 5
6.40pm, Pitch 8, Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Dubai Knights Eagles
7pm, Pitch 2, Jebel Ali Dragons v Dubai Tigers
7pm, Pitch 4, Dubai Hurricanes v Dubai Exiles
7pm, Pitch 5, Bahrain v Dubai Eagles 2
Recent winners
2018 Dubai Hurricanes
2017 Dubai Exiles
2016 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
2015 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
2014 Abu Dhabi Harlequins
Griselda
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Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
SPECS
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'Downton Abbey: A New Era'
Director: Simon Curtis
Cast: Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan
Rating: 4/5
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
