Al Nasr 1 // AL Wahda 3
DUBAI // Josef Hickersberger heaved a sigh of relief last night after Al Wahda ended their streak of five games without a win with a comprehensive 3-1 triumph over Al Nasr.
Salem Saleh's first-half brace, after Mohammed Ahmed had put Wahda ahead in the third minute. Ismael Bangoura scored the consolation for the home team in the second session.
Wahda, who had picked up just two points from their previous five Pro League games, take their tally to 23 points, one more than Nasr and Hickersberger was pleased to see his young players come to the fore in the win.
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With as many as seven of their experienced campaigners missing through injuries, including the foreign duo of Fernando Baiano and Magrao, Hickersberger put his trust in the youngsters and they proved their worth.
"We played a good first-half and took all our chances," said the Austrian coach. "Of course, with this lead, I expected to play a better second-half, but we could not do it because many players are not fresh because we are playing every four or five days.
"But in general, we won an important match for us, so that we don't get into trouble from the standings and we don't have anything to do with the relegation. So this was an important win for us
"We played a lot of young players today, for that reason I am very happy… to see these young players do well and score important goals.
"I have a lot of trust in these young players. I see them in training and I know what they are capable of. For me, I have no doubt that when we are short of experienced players, we can play these young players and they will do well."
Wahda had taken the lead even before the Nasr fans had settled into their seats and the goal came off a smart run from Ismail Matar and some amateurish defending by Nasr.
The Nasr goalkeeper, Abdulla Moosa, left his charge to close in on Matar and he was successful in dispossessing the Wahda striker.
However, Bader Yaqoot and Helal Saeed - the two central defenders - made a mess of a simple clearance, tripping over for some inexplicable reasons.
The ball came to Mohammed and he tapped home into the unmanned net.
The Nasr defence was beaten again in the 23rd minute as Matar curled the ball from a corner kick.
Salem Saleh, at the far post, met with no resistance and nodded the ball in.
Six minutes later, Saleh again had plenty of room to manoeuvre inside the box and headed home Matar's cross without any challenges.
Walter Zenga, the former Italy goalkeeper and now Nasr coach, was gesturing excitedly on the sidelines until then, screaming out orders and angrily contesting the referee's decision after Bangoura was brought down inside the Wahda box. Zenga thought Nasr deserved a penalty, but the referee decided otherwise.
After the third goal, however, he sank back into his chair, realising the futility of it all. Even a thunderous Bangoura left-footer in the 44th minute, which bounced off the crossbar, failed to excite the Italian.
"We started the game with two handicaps because we gifted two goals," said Zenga. "It's not like they produced some great move. The third goal was also a gift and it is very difficult to come back into the game after these three goals."
As the referee blew his whistle for half-time, Zenga hurried back into the dressing room, clearly unhappy with his team's performance until then. If his mood was any indication, the Nasr players must have definitely received a bit of the hair-dryer treatment.
The home side started the second-half with two changes: Saeed Mubarak coming on for Salem Khamis and Hussain Ibrahim replacing Rodrigo Vergillo.
The substitutions seemed to be working for Nasr, bringing a bit more vigour to their midfield game.
They made a few threatening runs as well and came very close to reducing the margin in the 64th minute, but, despite a desperate dive, Bangoura failed to connect with Mahmoud Darwish's cross.
Bangoura eventually managed to get on the scoresheet in the 72nd minute, slamming home a clearance following Yunus Ahmed's solo foray into the Wahda box.
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Name: Qyubic
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
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The biog
Date of birth: 27 May, 1995
Place of birth: Dubai, UAE
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School: Al Ittihad private school in Al Mamzar
University: University of Sharjah
Degree: Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Hobby: I enjoy travelling a lot, not just for fun, but I like to cross things off my bucket list and the map and do something there like a 'green project'.
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- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
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Black Panther
Dir: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o
Five stars
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.
The specs
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
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The bio:
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
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Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
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The Year Earth Changed
Directed by:Tom Beard
Narrated by: Sir David Attenborough
Stars: 4
THE DETAILS
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Director: Ron Howard
2/5
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
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
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Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Sustainable Development Goals
1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
