Jardim expects Monaco to keep up pre-season momentum as Ligue 1 campaign begins

New Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim wants his side to translate their impressive pre-season form into a successful start to their Ligue 1 campaign on Sunday when Lorient visit the Stade Louis II.

Monaco won five and drew one in their six friendlies during the summer, including beating Arsenal and Parma, to leave Jardim in optimistic mood heading into his first campaign in France.

The former Sporting Lisbon and Olympiakos coach, who replaced Claudio Ranieri in June, said: “The team is confident after the six friendlies. We will do everything to play a good quality of football.

“We’ve worked hard for six weeks to be ready. We want to start with a good game on Sunday.”

Jardim has the momentum, which saw Monaco win the Ligue 2 title in 2013 before finishing second to Paris Saint-Germain in the top flight last term, on his side.

They must do without forward James Rodriguez, who joined Real Madrid for £63 million (Dh388m) this summer after his impressive World Cup exploits with Colombia, but have so far managed to keep hold of his sought-after countryman Radamel Falcao.

Falcao, who scored the only goal in last season’s corresponding fixture against Lorient, has only recently returned to competitive action following a serious knee injury and is not fully fit, but Jardim said the prolific striker could still be involved this weekend.

“Falcao is not 100 per cent yet but is ready to be included in the group,” he said.

Lorient, who finished eighth last season, have only beaten Monaco once in their past 10 meetings, but midfielder Mathieu Coutadeur hopes that facing the big-spending Monegasque on the opening day of the campaign could benefit his side.

“Some people think it’s better to take them on right away because they will not be completely settled. I agree with that,” Coutadeur said.

“We’re not in perfect form. We’re maybe not 100 per cent ready physically or at a tactical level, but mentally, we are ready. We will need to be at 150 per cent to play this Monaco team.”

sports@thenational.ae

In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe

Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010

Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille

Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm

Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year

Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”

Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners

TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013

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.

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

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Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa

Rating: 3/5

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The rules on fostering in the UAE

A foster couple or family must:

be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
not be younger than 25 years old
not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially

GOLF’S RAHMBO

- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)

How to wear a kandura

Dos

Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts

Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying

Greatest Royal Rumble results

John Cena pinned Triple H in a singles match

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Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt win the Raw Tag Team titles against Cesaro and Sheamus

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Bludgeon Brothers retain the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos

Seth Rollins retains the Intercontinental title against The Miz, Finn Balor and Samoa Joe

AJ Styles remains WWE World Heavyweight champion after he and Shinsuke Nakamura are both counted out

The Undertaker beats Rusev in a casket match

Brock Lesnar retains the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

Braun Strowman won the 50-man Royal Rumble by eliminating Big Cass last

NO OTHER LAND

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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

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