Hostels to Samba stars, how the sport was born

The first game of futsal, derived from the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón, is widely believed to have been played in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1930, when Juan Carlos Ceriani, the "father of futsal", created a five-a-side version of "hall football" for competitions in youth hostels. Ceriani's game quickly caught on across South America, particularly in Brazil, where formative years are often spent playing it. Generations of players have mastered their abilities in futsal before going on to set the more popular, outdoor, 11-a-side version of the game alight.

From Pele, Zico and Socrates, to Bebeto, Ronaldinho and Robinho, many of Brazil's big names learned their skills in futsal. Thus, it is little wonder that Brazil - the world's top-ranked side - have won four of the six Futsal World Cups. Only Spain, winners in 2000 and 2004, have halted the trend. Futsal's rules, while stemming from outdoor football, are distinctly their own. Designed to emphasise improvisation, creativity, technique, skill and passing in restricted spaces, the first rule is that a team must start with five players: four outfield players and one goalkeeper, who can leave their quarter-circle penalty box, but not pick the ball up outside it.

Feet are the key and throw-ins do not exist: kick-ins from the floor are standard. Yellow and red cards are shown as normal, but an "accumulation of team fouls" rule means a direct free-kick is awarded on a team's sixth foul. There are four referees: one in each half, one in charge of the score and one in charge of time-keeping (every stoppage is amassed). If the two 20-minute halves end in a draw, two extra-time periods of five minutes are played. Teams receive one time-out per half of regulation play.

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COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Kumulus Water

Started: 2021

Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid

Based: Tunisia

Sector: Water technology

Number of staff: 22

Investment raised: $4 million

Tuesday's fixtures

Group A

Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm

Iran v Uzbekistan, 8pm

N Korea v UAE, 10.15pm

The five new places of worship

Church of South Indian Parish

St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch

St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch

St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais

Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais

Company profile

Company name: Suraasa

Started: 2018

Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker

Based: India, UAE and the UK

Industry: EdTech

Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding

FIXTURES

Saturday, November 3
Japan v New Zealand
Wales v Scotland
England v South Africa
Ireland v Italy

Saturday, November 10
Italy v Georgia
Scotland v Fiji
England v New Zealand
Wales v Australia
Ireland v Argentina
France v South Africa

Saturday, November 17
Italy v Australia
Wales v Tonga
England v Japan
Scotland v South Africa
Ireland v New Zealand

Saturday, November 24
|Italy v New Zealand
Scotland v Argentina
England v Australia
Wales v South Africa
Ireland v United States
France v Fiji

Stats at a glance:

Cost: 1.05 billion pounds (Dh 4.8 billion)

Number in service: 6

Complement 191 (space for up to 285)

Top speed: over 32 knots

Range: Over 7,000 nautical miles

Length 152.4 m

Displacement: 8,700 tonnes

Beam: 21.2 m

Draught: 7.4 m

A State of Passion

Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi

Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Rating: 4/5

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

Election pledges on migration

CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"

SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"

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Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.