LUBANGO// If Egypt win this Cup of Nations, their captain, Ahmed Hassan, will have won the tournament four times, twice as often as Nigeria have in their history, a fact that probably should not be repeated anywhere near the Super Eagles' hotel.
Roughly one in six Africans is Nigerian, they have a profound passion for the game, they have produced as many top-class players as any other African nation, and their infrastructure is as good as anywhere else on the continent, and yet still they under perform.
And as each competition goes by, so the mountain Nigeria have to climb gets bigger. They will progress to the quarter-final should they draw with Mozambique today, but Nigeria have been anything but impressive, following up a 3-1 defeat to Egypt with a fortuitous 1-0 win over Benin.
"Having lost the first game to Egypt, there had to be a little bit of a crisis of confidence," said the Nigeria coach Shaibu Amodu.
"Any slip could have been a disaster. We needed the three points. Nothing was more important."
They only just made it, though, the game's solitary goal coming from a dubious penalty, while Benin twice hit the bar. As against Egypt, having begun well, Nig-eria seemed overwhelmed by self-doubt, defended deeper and deeper and became increasingly nervous. This is a squad palpably under pressure, as the generally truculent mood among the players demonstrates.
Making the situation more unsettling is the fact that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) is operating alongside a Presidential Task Force (PTF), set up as their World Cup qualifying campaign started stuttering, and nobody is quite sure which body has the greater authority.
The PTF, of which the former England international John Fashanu is a member, is understood to favour the appointment of a foreign coach, while the NFF would prefer, as their president Alhaji Sanu Lulu Abdullahi put it, to "sink or swim" with Amodu.
Their theory is that Europe-based players supposedly struggle to respect a domestic coach, while a foreigner would have the further advantage of being seen to be free of tribal bias.
Amodu is understood to have been told that he must reach at least the semi-finals if he is to stay on for the World Cup, but at least two European coaches with significant African experience have already been sounded out by the NFF, while Herve Renard, the coach of Mozambique, has also been linked with the job; victory for the Mambas today, of course, would be the best possible way for the Frenchman to advertise his qualities.
For Amodu, the situation must feel horribly familiar. In 2002, he led Nigeria to qualification for the World Cup, only to be replaced by Adegboye Onigbinde after taking his side to the semi-final of the Cup of Nations in Mali.
After Berti Vogts failed to get Nigeria to the 2006 World Cup, Amodu returned, achieved his primary objective with a squad far inferior to that of eight years ago, and yet finds himself likely to be denied his place on the biggest stage once again.
So far, Amodu has preferred a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Yakubu as a lone striker, but it seems probably that, with Wolfsburg's Obafemi Martins returned from a court appearance in London, he will switch to a 4-4-2, which should at least satisfy those sections of the Nigerian press who persist in seeing a lone striker as a defensive option in keeping with Amodu's dour reputation.
The problem, though, is really the lack of a midfield creator, the search for which has become so desperate that there are even rumours that Jay-Jay Okocha could be tempted out of retirement at the age of 37.
Mikel John Obi was tried in the role against Egypt, but he seems more comfortable coming from deep, as he did against Benin, while Kalu Uche was no more convincing having been moved in field from the left wing in that second game.
Nigeria will also be without their captain, Joseph Yobo, who has a hamstring injury that could keep him out of the tournament. For Amodu, the rest of the tournament looks like being the extent of his tenure as Nigeria coach. Historical underachievement is engulfing his side once again.
@Email:sports@thenational.ae
Nigeria v Mozambique, KO 8pm, Aljazeera Sport + 9
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
Men’s:
Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
Ali Farag (EGY)
Simon Rosner (GER)
Tarek Momen (EGY)
Miguel Angel Rodriguez (COL)
Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
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How to keep control of your emotions
If your investment decisions are being dictated by emotions such as fear, greed, hope, frustration and boredom, it is time for a rethink, Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, says.
Greed
Greedy investors trade beyond their means, open more positions than usual or hold on to positions too long to chase an even greater gain. “All too often, they incur a heavy loss and may even wipe out the profit already made.
Tip: Ignore the short-term hype, noise and froth and invest for the long-term plan, based on sound fundamentals.
Fear
The risk of making a loss can cloud decision-making. “This can cause you to close out a position too early, or miss out on a profit by being too afraid to open a trade,” he says.
Tip: Start with a plan, and stick to it. For added security, consider placing stops to reduce any losses and limits to lock in profits.
Hope
While all traders need hope to start trading, excessive optimism can backfire. Too many traders hold on to a losing trade because they believe that it will reverse its trend and become profitable.
Tip: Set realistic goals. Be happy with what you have earned, rather than frustrated by what you could have earned.
Frustration
Traders can get annoyed when the markets have behaved in unexpected ways and generates losses or fails to deliver anticipated gains.
Tip: Accept in advance that asset price movements are completely unpredictable and you will suffer losses at some point. These can be managed, say, by attaching stops and limits to your trades.
Boredom
Too many investors buy and sell because they want something to do. They are trading as entertainment, rather than in the hope of making money. As well as making bad decisions, the extra dealing charges eat into returns.
Tip: Open an online demo account and get your thrills without risking real money.
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
What is a robo-adviser?
Robo-advisers use an online sign-up process to gauge an investor’s risk tolerance by feeding information such as their age, income, saving goals and investment history into an algorithm, which then assigns them an investment portfolio, ranging from more conservative to higher risk ones.
These portfolios are made up of exchange traded funds (ETFs) with exposure to indices such as US and global equities, fixed-income products like bonds, though exposure to real estate, commodity ETFs or gold is also possible.
Investing in ETFs allows robo-advisers to offer fees far lower than traditional investments, such as actively managed mutual funds bought through a bank or broker. Investors can buy ETFs directly via a brokerage, but with robo-advisers they benefit from investment portfolios matched to their risk tolerance as well as being user friendly.
Many robo-advisers charge what are called wrap fees, meaning there are no additional fees such as subscription or withdrawal fees, success fees or fees for rebalancing.
