UAE footballers pay tribute to Bruno Metsu who has died of cancer age 59

DUBAI // For all the success gleaned at various outposts around the world, it was a January evening in Abu Dhabi in 2007 that ensures Bruno Metsu's memory will live long in the Emirates.

The Frenchman, who yesterday lost a year-long battle against cancer, will forever be synonymous with the Gulf Cup of six years ago, when he took the tournament’s aspiring hosts and masterminded their journey to the title.

The UAE were crowned champions following years of near-misses – three times they had lost in the final – at a Zayed Sports City trembling to the voice of 60,000 spectators as Ismail Matar scored the only goal against Oman for the trophy.

Matar may have been the obvious hero, but Metsu, with his insatiable desire to win, was undoubtedly the architect.

“I learnt a lot from him, particularly in professionalism and leadership,” said Mohammed Omar, the UAE captain that night, when news of Metsu’s death broke. “One thing I will never forget is his words: ‘Always be on the winning side. There is no place for those who finish second.’ It is true because success is measured by results.

“It is a very sad day for me. I was very close to him and shared some great moments.”

Metsu had already proved his pedigree during two years at Al Ain, where he won two league titles and led the club to a 2003 Asian Champions League triumph against Thailand’s BEC Thero Sasana. They are the only Emirati side to lift the trophy.

“There are a lot of coaches who come to the UAE – big names with big reputations – but they don’t know how to help players psychologically as well as technically,” said Fahad Ali, the former Al Ain defender, last summer.

“Yet Bruno, when it comes to this aspect, is one of the best coaches to have managed in the Emirates.”

Metsu’s reputation as a master of his craft, particularly in the Arabian Gulf region, would convince Al Wasl last July that he was the manager to rescue their struggling club.

He began impressively, too, with the Dubai side unbeaten through their opening five league matches, only for illness to strike and force him to relinquish his position. Wasl never truly recovered.

“He was my coach for three or four months, but immediately you knew he was a positive person, all the time looking at small details and always with a big respect for the players,” said Mariano Donda, the Wasl midfielder. “When he left the club, we would still feel his presence day by day.

“Perhaps the only good to come from this bad news is that his suffering has stopped. Now another life has started for him. His family must stay close, and we must pray for them and encourage them to try to continue living their lives, because we are fortunate to have the opportunity to do that.”

Metsu, 59, was diagnosed with the illness last October. He died yesterday morning at a clinic in Coudekerque-Village, his hometown in northern France. He is survived by wife, Viviane, and their three children.

Mutaz Abdullah, the former Al Ain and UAE goalkeeper, who plies his trade these days with Ajman, said: “My thoughts are with his young family. It is a massive loss.

“He was a charismatic coach and was admired by everyone associated with football in the region.”

A selection of other quotes from players, coaches and officials

Mutaz Abdullah (former Al Ain and UAE goalkeeper, now at Ajman)

“I was one of those fortunate enough to play under him. He enjoyed a lot of success as a coach in the UAE. I really admired him as a coach. He was a great coach and friend.”

Mariano Donda (Al Wasl midfielder)

“I met Bruno in June 2012 and I thought he was a good person, educated with important moral values. When I heard about his illness it was difficult to take because the first thing I thought about was my family and I was away from them.

I called him often to see how he was doing, but you could see in his physical appearance. It’s really sad news for the people who met him. I don’t know what more I can say.”

Sultan Hareb (member of Wasl board)

“It’s very sad moment today to hear the news, because the last time I saw him he was in good spirits, and seemed very happy. We’re sad at this moment because we’re all losing an extremely honest guy; not just Wasl, but the whole of the UAE. Our thoughts are with his family.”

Eid Baroot (Emirates Club coach, and caretaker coach at Al Wasl last season)

“I know him from when he was in Al Wasl and he passed through from time-to-time to see us. He was always really nice, very respectful. The sports people in the UAE respect him for his achievements with the national team and Al Ain. He had something to give to UAE football, which we are very happy for. He did a very excellent job; everybody will always remember Bruno. I share the sadness with his family and wish them the strength to pass this period.”

Claude Le Roy (former Senegal, Cameroon and Ghana coach)

“I’m in shock. He fought like a lion. We had a lot of adventures together. I will remember his magnificent smile and his love of life. It’s terrible for him, for Viviane [his wife] and the kids. I’m thinking about them in particular.”

Noel Le Graet (French Football Federation (FFF) president)

“He was really passionate about football, he’ll leave the memory of a winner who succeeded I’d say on all continents with mad passion, a desire to win, consistency.

“An important personality from French football has left us. He gave the impression of a man able to convince others that French football had values. He was an example to follow in his convictions and the missions he undertook.”

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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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”.
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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.”

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What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.