Part of the clue is in the nickname.
Gervais Yao Kouassi had not been long enrolled at the Asec Mimosas academy in Abidjan when his dribbling, his feints and his shimmies identified something a little Brazilian in him.
So Gervais became “Gervinho”, a West African version of a Ronaldinho or, more accurately, of an enigmatic Robinho.
He was barely more than a child at the time, not even a teenager, and the sobriquet gave Gervinho the sort of honour that many distinguished students of Asec’s fabled nursery in Ivory Coast’s principal city would never be granted.
Neither Yaya nor Kolo Toure were ever called “Kolinho”, or “Yayazinho”. When their Asec contemporary and fellow future stalwart of the Ivorian national side, Didier Zokora, got his schoolboy nickname it was simply “Maestro”.
In his native Ivory Coast, Gervinho has always been regarded as a special, distinctive talent.
In committing such a substantial investment – in fees and salary – to clinching a deal for his services, with the medical to take place this month, Arabian Gulf League side Al Jazira follow some distinguished European clubs.
Typically those clubs have been ones who cherish the type of flair a confident, buoyant Gervinho supplies, cutting in from the wings, taking on and tantalising opponents one-on-one.
Gervinho has been at Premier League side Arsenal and comes to the squad who outscored every other in last season’s Arabian Gulf League from Roma in Serie A, where his departure is regarded with mixed emotions.
For much of his two-year spell in Italy, Gervinho was an electric, thrilling focus for a team who could be brilliant on the counter-attack.
Under the French coach Rudi Garcia, Roma had established certain trademark patterns and some of them were good.
With Gervinho at full pelt, Roma started their Serie A campaigns at a gallop – then they faded.
The same could be said of Gervinho’s level of performance in the season just completed.
Jazira have not signed a player at the peak of his form, although this weekend he will be on international duty with Ivory Coast, an environment that has often proved a soothing oasis for Gervinho when he has suffered dips with his club teams.
Gervinho experienced the agonies of those Ivorian near misses directly.
He missed a penalty in the shootout against Zambia in the final of the 2012 tournament.
He also received a red card after lashing out against provocative attentions from Guinea defenders in the group phase of this year’s competition.
The images of a distraught, out-of-control Gervinho after his sending off were not edifying.
To his credit, he cooled down and came back from his subsequent suspension to score goals in the competition’s quarter-final and semi-final stages.
Returning to Rome after the Nations Cup, his form went into a trough.
In the 10 Serie A matches he played for a Roma who was falling away from the title race and then had to scrap their way to an eventual runners-up position, he contributed no goals and one assist.
Compare that with his first season-and-a-half at Roma – 19 goals, 17 assists – and you have the explanation of why the Italians weighed up Jazira’s offer carefully and decided to say goodbye to a footballer who had enjoyed great popularity with supporters.
Roma certainly lifted Gervinho from the marginalised, frustrating figure he had become at the end of his two-year stint with Arsenal.
Garcia, who had coached the player at Lille, helped that process by encouraging Gervinho to be daring and exploit his speed and range of tricks.
“He does make the wrong decisions sometimes,” Garcia said of him, “but you want him there.
“The chances he creates are the sort that don’t come about without him.”
In other words, Gervinho needs to be given licence to thrill and to hear from those around him reminders that what he has is special, that he is not a luxury adornment but something fundamentally important to his team.
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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
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.
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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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.
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
RESULTS
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion
The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".
The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.
He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.
"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.
As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.
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Salah in numbers
€39 million: Liverpool agreed a fee, including add-ons, in the region of €39m (nearly Dh176m) to sign Salah from Roma last year. The exchange rate at the time meant that cost the Reds £34.3m - a bargain given his performances since.
13: The 25-year-old player was not a complete stranger to the Premier League when he arrived at Liverpool this summer. However, during his previous stint at Chelsea, he made just 13 Premier League appearances, seven of which were off the bench, and scored only twice.
57: It was in the 57th minute of his Liverpool bow when Salah opened his account for the Reds in the 3-3 draw with Watford back in August. The Egyptian prodded the ball over the line from close range after latching onto Roberto Firmino's attempted lob.
7: Salah's best scoring streak of the season occurred between an FA Cup tie against West Brom on January 27 and a Premier League win over Newcastle on March 3. He scored for seven games running in all competitions and struck twice against Tottenham.
3: This season Salah became the first player in Premier League history to win the player of the month award three times during a term. He was voted as the division's best player in November, February and March.
40: Salah joined Roger Hunt and Ian Rush as the only players in Liverpool's history to have scored 40 times in a single season when he headed home against Bournemouth at Anfield earlier this month.
30: The goal against Bournemouth ensured the Egyptian achieved another milestone in becoming the first African player to score 30 times across one Premier League campaign.
8: As well as his fine form in England, Salah has also scored eight times in the tournament phase of this season's Champions League. Only Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, with 15 to his credit, has found the net more often in the group stages and knockout rounds of Europe's premier club competition.
