JOHANNESBURG // South Africa could not quite give the Confederations Cup an upset that would have upstaged Spain's defeat against the USA but their performance against Brazil in the semi-final, where they lost 1-0 to a late Daniel Alves free-kick, has laid solid foundations for next year's World Cup.
There were serious concerns going into this tournament that the hosts, having conquered their problems off the pitch, would instead crumble on it and fail to create the kind of enthusiasm, excitement and patriotism that a World Cup thrives on.
But the improvement in Joel Santana's team since an uninspired draw against Iraq in the opening match has been impressive. It began with victory over New Zealand and culminated on Thursday with a display against Brazil that combined technical excellence in midfield and discipline in defence to such aplomb that the South Americans, Kaka and all, struggled to create chances.
There is still a lack of firepower for Santana to contend with but defender Matthew Booth, who has been one of the faces of this tournament having gained iconic status with the home crowd, believes South Africa will take great encouragement from their campaign.
"This tournament has given the team a lot of confidence," he said.
"It was bitterly disappointing to lose to Brazil in the last couple of minutes after we had done so well during the game to nullify their danger players. But I'm sure we'll take a lot of heart from the performance and hopefully the public will keep behind us like they have done over the last couple of weeks and we'll take that into the World Cup. We could surprise people.
"Team spirit has improved and so has tactical awareness. We're very comfortable on the field and have come out of the tournament with a lot of credit."
For Brazil, there are no major worries about how they will perform next year.
They can look back on some excellent performances here in South Africa as well as two poor performances, including Thursday's, when they played badly but still had the heart to score late winners, in this case a stunning 88th-minute free-kick from Alves that sets up a final against the USA tomorrow.
"Playing South Africa was a very, tough game. We suffered a lot to win," said Kaka. "Each team play in a different way and Brazil are ready to play against everybody."
sports@thenational.ae
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
JOKE'S%20ON%20YOU
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The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
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Company%20Profile
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Fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit
As he spoke, Mr Aboul Gheit repeatedly referred to the need to tackle issues affecting the welfare of people across the region both in terms of preventing conflict and in pushing development.
Lebanon is scheduled to host the fourth Arab Economic and Social Development Summit in January that will see regional leaders gather to tackle the challenges facing the Middle East. The last such summit was held in 2013. Assistant Secretary-General Hossam Zaki told The National that the Beirut Summit “will be an opportunity for Arab leaders to discuss solely economic and social issues, the conference will not focus on political concerns such as Palestine, Syria or Libya". He added that its slogan will be “the individual is at the heart of development”, adding that it will focus on all elements of human capital.
About Proto21
Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Key facilities
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Director: Romany Saad
Starring: Mirfat Amin, Boumi Fouad and Tariq Al Ibyari
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
The specs: 2019 Lincoln MKC
Price, base / as tested: Dh169,995 / Dh192,045
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Transmission: Six-speed automatic
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Fuel economy, combined: 10.7L / 100km
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
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Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
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On sale: Now
