Zlatan Ibrahimovic has just become an Italian centurion. He scored his hundredth goal in the colours of Serie A clubs last Wednesday night during AC Milan's win against Palermo.
It was an important goal, too, the second in a 3-1 victory that would leverage his team to the top of the table. Milan will have noted, when they signed Ibrahimovic in August, that the top of the table is where he usually ends up.
In his two seasons with Juventus, the Swede finished each campaign collecting a champion's medal - Juve's honour was later rescinded because of the calciopoli scandal - and his three year stint with Inter Milan also delivered a trio of scudetti.
But Ibrahimovic is also the sort of centurion who, if he were a cricketer, would regularly have heard it muttered that he is a 'flat-track bully', a player at his most visible in domestic football, most prolific when the opposition are middle or lower-ranking sides.
Ibrahimovic may have won league titles in Holland, where he played for Ajax, in Italy and in Spain, where he spent last season with Barcelona, but he has not won the Champions League.
That, he confesses, is a long-term aim. It motivated his move from Inter to Barcelona when Barcelona were the reigning European club champions.
It hurt him when Barca lost that crown and it went instead to Inter, the club he had left because he detected they were less capable of making that step.
So it hardly needs restating that tomorrow's Milan derby has a special weight for Ibrahimovic.
There is a brittleness about his club's position at the head of the table, and a win for Inter, who sit fourth, would put the neighbours neck and neck on 23 points.
Milan have lost already this season to Juventus and to Real Madrid, the most prestigious opponents they have played so far.
Although Ibrahimovic has supplied to Italian audiences ample reminders of his high class - he has scored five goals in 10 league outings and directly set up four - Milan still too often look a side who are ageing.
Also, the head coach, Massimiliano Allegri, has been asked to create a unit of new and disparate individuals at quite short notice: Ibrahimovic and Robinho both joined at the very tail-end of the last transfer window.
Nor, as Allegri knew very well, is the tall centre-forward the easiest man to accommodate.
Ibrahimovic left Barcelona, who were prepared to take a financial loss of almost €40 million (Dh202m) after only 12 months with him on the staff there, because he fell out with the coach there, Pep Guardiola.
The player sneered at Guardiola's inability "to deal with stars". Some of the same edgy rancour seemed to accompany the Swede to Milan.
He had been there barely a fortnight when he launched, on live television, a prickly attack on Arrigo Sacchi, the former Milan coach and now media pundit. Sacchi has status among Milan fans, so Ibrahimovic won few friends among his new constituents for his remarks. Nor was his kick at a junior Milan player, Rodney Strasser, designed to win him friends.
The gesture - Ibrahimovic is good at taekwondo - may have been intended as no more than playground rough-and-tumble but it was thought odd by some colleagues. And his scuffle with Oguchi Onyewu, Milan's US defender, after Onyewu took umbrage about the aggression of an Ibrahimovic tackle during practice went so far that the training session had to be abandoned.
Pugnacity has always been a part of Ibrahimovic's game. Allegri wants it fostered and well used.
"We need a bit more malice sometimes," the coach said last week. The sight of a vulnerable Inter should stir it readily enough. The defending champions are not only trailing Milan but have a raft of injuries. The absence of Walter Samuel from the axis of the defence in particular should please Ibrahimovic, the central figure in tonight's showpiece.
sports@thenational.ae
FIXTURES
Today
Fiorentina v Cesena 8pm
Juventus v Roma 11.45pm
Tomorrow
Lazio v Napoli 2.30pm
Bari v Parma 5pm
Bologna v Brescia 5pm
Cagliari v Genoa 5pm
Palermo v Catania 5pm
Sampdoria v Chievo 5pm
Udinese v Lecce 5pm
Inter Milan v AC Milan 10.45pm
Licka licks his wounds
Mario Licka, the Brest midfielder, has called on his team-mates to forget last week’s heavy defeat and prove they are worthy of their position at the top of the standings when they take on Sochaux today.
The team were unbeaten in eight matches before losing 3-1 to Lille. Despite that result, they remain at the top of the Ligue 1 table, one point clear of Rennes. “It was inevitable our run was going to end one day,” Licka said. “We played badly, they played very well and we have to accept the defeat. Now we face Sochaux and will see if the loss causes us problems or not.”
Brest will play today without striker Larsen Toure, who is nursing a hamstring injury. Also today, Nancy face struggling Bordeaux, who sit mid-table with four wins, four draws and four defeats – and a goal difference of zero. Bordeaux are winless in their last three games.
Bundesliga boosted
Bayern Munich’s current struggles benefit the Bundesliga, the league’s chief executive said. Bayern, who have won nine of the last 14 Bundesliga titles, are in ninth place, 12 points behind first-place Borussia Dortmund going into tomorrow’s game with Nuremberg. “It’s good for the fans. It’s good for the sponsors,” Christian Seifert said. “At the end, I think it’s good for Bayern Munich because they are living in a real, challenging day-by-day-environment.
“A lot of the so-called top leagues in Europe are in fact very boring leagues. They have maybe one or two real good clubs, but at the end they’re maybe a little bit boring.”
Seifert said the Bundesliga has benefited from a decade of financial regulations. He endorsed the financial fair play rules enacted by the Union of European Football Associations, which say teams should keep player compensation below 50 per cent of revenue.
Busquets steps in
Sergio Busquets, the Barcelona midfielder, is ready to fill in at the back in the absence of Gerard Pique and Gabi Milito against Villarreal today. Pique is suspended following his red card against Getafe last weekend, and Milito was injured in a 5-1 win over Ceuta in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola, the Barca coach, may decide to switch Eric Abidal, the full-back, to a central position, but Busquets is ready to drop back if needed. “If I had to play as a central defender, I would,” he said. “I would have things to improve on, because it’s not my natural position, but I could play as a centre-back.”
Barcelona face Real Madrid later this month, but Busquets says the Catalans are focused solely on Villarreal. “There are some very important matches before we play Madrid,” he said. “For us, the most important game is [Villarreal].”
PSV target top spot
PSV Eindhoven will be looking for their sixth home win of the season – and possibly first place in the league – when they face Excelsior today. PSV is one point behind Eredivisie leaders FC Twente, who face a difficult trip to NAC Breda. NAC are in 11th place, but they have enjoyed success in their home stadium, where they have claimed five victories and suffered just one defeat.
Also today, Roda, in fifth, look to close the gap on fourth-placed Groningen when they host Utrecht, who have lost five of their seven away games.
Ajax also face a difficult game when they travel to face AZ Alkmaar tomorrow. They are three points behind PSV but the Amsterdam side have a significantly inferior goal difference although they have yet to be beaten when playing away from home.
Groningen will be aiming to translate their near-perfect home form into success on the road when they visit Heracles.
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At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
The bio
Studied up to grade 12 in Vatanappally, a village in India’s southern Thrissur district
Was a middle distance state athletics champion in school
Enjoys driving to Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah with family
His dream is to continue working as a social worker and help people
Has seven diaries in which he has jotted down notes about his work and money he earned
Keeps the diaries in his car to remember his journey in the Emirates
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The biog
Name: Samar Frost
Born: Abu Dhabi
Hobbies: Singing, music and socialising with friends
Favourite singer: Adele
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Medicus AI
Started: 2016
Founder(s): Dr Baher Al Hakim, Dr Nadine Nehme and Makram Saleh
Based: Vienna, Austria; started in Dubai
Sector: Health Tech
Staff: 119
Funding: €7.7 million (Dh31m)
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
DMZ facts
- The DMZ was created as a buffer after the 1950-53 Korean War.
- It runs 248 kilometers across the Korean Peninsula and is 4km wide.
- The zone is jointly overseen by the US-led United Nations Command and North Korea.
- It is littered with an estimated 2 million mines, tank traps, razor wire fences and guard posts.
- Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un met at a building in Panmunjom, where an armistice was signed to stop the Korean War.
- Panmunjom is 52km north of the Korean capital Seoul and 147km south of Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital.
- Former US president Bill Clinton visited Panmunjom in 1993, while Ronald Reagan visited the DMZ in 1983, George W. Bush in 2002 and Barack Obama visited a nearby military camp in 2012.
- Mr Trump planned to visit in November 2017, but heavy fog that prevented his helicopter from landing.
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
UAE Falcons
Carly Lewis (captain), Emily Fensome, Kelly Loy, Isabel Affley, Jessica Cronin, Jemma Eley, Jenna Guy, Kate Lewis, Megan Polley, Charlie Preston, Becki Quigley and Sophie Siffre. Deb Jones and Lucia Sdao – coach and assistant coach.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
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
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
The biog
Name: Salvador Toriano Jr
Age: 59
From: Laguna, The Philippines
Favourite dish: Seabass or Fish and Chips
Hobbies: When he’s not in the restaurant, he still likes to cook, along with walking and meeting up with friends.
ICC T20 Team of 2021
Jos Buttler, Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga, Mustafizur Rahman, Shaheen Afridi
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Building boom turning to bust as Turkey's economy slows
Deep in a provincial region of northwestern Turkey, it looks like a mirage - hundreds of luxury houses built in neat rows, their pointed towers somewhere between French chateau and Disney castle.
Meant to provide luxurious accommodations for foreign buyers, the houses are however standing empty in what is anything but a fairytale for their investors.
The ambitious development has been hit by regional turmoil as well as the slump in the Turkish construction industry - a key sector - as the country's economy heads towards what could be a hard landing in an intensifying downturn.
After a long period of solid growth, Turkey's economy contracted 1.1 per cent in the third quarter, and many economists expect it will enter into recession this year.
The country has been hit by high inflation and a currency crisis in August. The lira lost 28 per cent of its value against the dollar in 2018 and markets are still unconvinced by the readiness of the government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to tackle underlying economic issues.
The villas close to the town centre of Mudurnu in the Bolu region are intended to resemble European architecture and are part of the Sarot Group's Burj Al Babas project.
But the development of 732 villas and a shopping centre - which began in 2014 - is now in limbo as Sarot Group has sought bankruptcy protection.
It is one of hundreds of Turkish companies that have done so as they seek cover from creditors and to restructure their debts.
