France's Ligue 1 put on a show in China last week, with its figurehead club, Paris Saint-Germain, finishing off a tour of the country with the staging of the Trophee des Champions in Beijing.
All-star PSG and provincial Guingamp did not quite sell out the Workers Stadium in the Chinese capital, but from PSG’s point of view, the expedition was about setting down markers, part of a long-term process to elevate the club’s global appeal.
Ligue 1 is mostly happy to hang on to super-rich PSG’s coattails in raising its own profile.
The French league, which begins play in the 2014/15 season tonight with PSG raising the curtain at Reims, strides along on a competitive catwalk – not as popular worldwide as the English Premier League, not as dashing as Spain’s Primera Liga, lacking the traditional cachet of Italy’s Serie A, and not quite as entertaining offensively as the German Bundesliga.
What Ligue 1 does have, though, is a powerful motor to drive it up the European hierarchy, where it currently jostles with Portugal’s Superliga for the status of Uefa’s fifth-best league. That motor is the wealth and ambition of Qatar-backed PSG.
PSG won a second consecutive Ligue 1 title last May, and they did so at a canter. But their summer has presented some difficulties.
The club’s owners have been more aware than ever that they are obliged to observe the principles of Uefa’s Financial Fair Play initiative, which means curtailing spending on fees and salaries so that expenditures more closely match what the club can generate in ticketing, TV sales and merchandise.
The China trip, and the effort to make PSG a powerful global brand, was part of an endeavour to address income issues.
PSG have so far spent less than in previous summers, but they still managed to set one individual record for outlay.
The close to €60 million (Dh294.7m) they agreed to pay Chelsea for David Luiz eclipses the sum they handed over to AC Milan for Thiago Silva two years ago.
Thus, their central defensive pair are the first- and second-most costly defenders in the history of football.
The two are also fresh from a World Cup in which their Brazil were humiliated in the semi-finals. There must be a concern for PSG coach Laurent Blanc that both men bear some psychological scars.
Blanc’s position would become vulnerable, were PSG to begin the domestic campaign with a similar sequence of results as they finished the last. Their title was achieved thanks to an impeccable start, but it was actually clinched after a run of four games in which they lost twice and won only once.
It was a stumble that might have been graver had Monaco, their nearest pursuers, not faltered at the same time.
It did raise questions about Blanc’s capacity to focus the team. He has a tough job, despite all the budgetary muscle PSG can flex over other French clubs.
“Everyone assumes we are favourites of all the domestic competitions,” he said. “So we have to shine.”
His bosses have made it clear to him the priority is success in Europe. Blanc’s PSG came within minutes of an Uefa Champions League semi-final last April, edged out of the competition by Chelsea.
In the decisive second leg, they missed their leading scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a significant detail. Ibrahimovic is the centrepiece of PSG's image-making, and their game plan.
He also will soon turn 33. Blanc needs to make PSG less dependent on the Swede, but he needs to somehow keep Ibrahimovic and his teammates happy, too. Last season, the coach was aware of the Uruguayan forward Edinson Cavani's grumpiness in relinquishing the central striking role to Ibrahimovic.
Domestically, Blanc will come up against ambitious coaches keen to exploit any PSG frailty and polish their reputations by taking points off the Parisians.
An unusually high number of Ligue 1 clubs are guided by men new to the league. There is the venerated Marcelo Bielsa, a big character to take on a big project, at PSG’s fiercest rivals, Marseille.
At Monaco, who despite the loss of James Rodriguez to Real Madrid remain the best-equipped squad to challenge PSG, the managerial talents of Portugal’s Leonardo Jardim, 40, will be further assessed.
Jardim galvanised Sporting Lisbon last season, and if he can count on the services of Radamel Falcao for the whole of this term, he has a weapon to match Cavani and Ibrahimovic for firepower. The Colombia striker missed four months of 2013/14 with an injury.
Among the opening weekend’s most-intriguing fixtures will be Bielsa’s Marseille at Bastia, where Claude Makelele, the former France, Real Madrid and Chelsea midfielder, makes his debut as coach. Makelele was a watchword for organised, authoritative football as a player. He also served as an assistant at PSG and may know how to probe the champions’ weaknesses.
Meanwhile, Willy Sagnol, a former France teammate of Makelele, takes charge at Bordeaux.
Ligue 1 is intrigued by these new managers, probably more than by the fresh names playing on the teams. The reality is that glamorous new recruits are beyond the budgets of most clubs beneath the upper tier occupied by Monaco and PSG.
sports@thenational.ae
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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
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final
Kashima Antlers 3 (Nagaki 49’, Serginho 69’, Abe 84’)
Guadalajara 2 (Zaldivar 03’, Pulido 90')
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
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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 specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Geneva from Dh2,845 return, including taxes. The flight takes 6 hours.
The package
Clinique La Prairie offers a variety of programmes. A six-night Master Detox costs from 14,900 Swiss francs (Dh57,655), including all food, accommodation and a set schedule of medical consultations and spa treatments.
Price, base / as tested From Dh173,775 (base model)
Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo, AWD
Power 249hp at 5,500rpm
Torque 365Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Gearbox Nine-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined 7.9L/100km
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
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
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz E 300 Cabriolet
Price, base / as tested: Dh275,250 / Dh328,465
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder
Power: 245hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,300rpm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
THE%20SPECS
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THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
HOSTS
T20 WORLD CUP
2024: US and West Indies; 2026: India and Sri Lanka; 2028: Australia and New Zealand; 2030: England, Ireland and Scotland
ODI WORLD CUP
2027: South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia; 2031: India and
Bangladesh
CHAMPIONS TROPHY
2025: Pakistan; 2029: India
RESULTS
Light Flyweight (48kg): Alua Balkibekova (KAZ) beat Gulasal Sultonalieva (UZB) by points 4-1.
Flyweight (51kg): Nazym Kyzaibay (KAZ) beat Mary Kom (IND) 3-2.
Bantamweight (54kg): Dina Zholaman (KAZ) beat Sitora Shogdarova (UZB) 3-2.
Featherweight (57kg): Sitora Turdibekova (UZB) beat Vladislava Kukhta (KAZ) 5-0.
Lightweight (60kg): Rimma Volossenko (KAZ) beat Huswatun Hasanah (INA) KO round-1.
Light Welterweight (64kg): Milana Safronova (KAZ) beat Lalbuatsaihi (IND) 3-2.
Welterweight (69kg): Valentina Khalzova (KAZ) beat Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB) 5-0
Middleweight (75kg): Pooja Rani (IND) beat Mavluda Movlonova (UZB) 5-0.
Light Heavyweight (81kg): Farida Sholtay (KAZ) beat Ruzmetova Sokhiba (UZB) 5-0.
Heavyweight (81 kg): Lazzat Kungeibayeva (KAZ) beat Anupama (IND) 3-2.
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
