England captain Wayne Rooney says that he is more relaxed than at any previous major tournament because he no longer feels like the only match-winner in the squad.
The Manchester United skipper will equal David Beckham's record of 115 caps for an England outfield player when Roy Hodgson's side tackle minnows Iceland in the Euro 2016 last 16 in Nice on Monday.
With Rooney playing in midfield, the onus is now on strikers like Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge to score and, while England have struggled in front of goal, their captain believes that they have more players capable of deciding games than at any time in his 13-year international career.
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“I have always gone into a tournament thinking if I don’t play at my best, I cannot see us winning it,” he confided to reporters at England’s Chantilly media centre on Thursday.
“I have come into this tournament and we have players capable of doing magical things.
“We are different, but we have match-winners. We have five or six match-winners in our team and I cannot say we have always had that.”
As England embark upon the knockout rounds in France, the spectre of penalties now looms and Rooney revealed that he is going to great lengths in training to ensure that he is ready in the event of a shootout.
“Whatever corner I am going for, I tell the goalkeeper, so that makes it harder for me,” he said.
“If he can’t save it, despite knowing which way I am going, there are no worries for me in taking them.”
Opposition goalkeepers can meddle with a penalty-taker’s focus, however, as Rooney discovered when he came up against Italy great Gianluigi Buffon in the quarter-finals at Euro 2012.
“I always know which way I’m going and Buffon was actually pointing and telling me he knows I’m going that way,” Rooney recalled.
“He was right, so then I started wondering if I should go the other way.”
In the end, Rooney changed his mind about where to place his kick and Buffon went the wrong way.
England, though, lost the shootout, as they have done in six of the seven major tournament matches they have contested that have gone to penalties.
Beckham, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are among the players to have fluffed their lines from 12 yards, but Rooney said that the youthful current squad did not carry the same burden.
“The good thing about this squad now is I don’t think there is one player who has been in a shootout and missed for England,” he said.
“So that won’t be hanging over any player.”
England manager Roy Hodgson came in for criticism after making six changes against Slovakia, which included withdrawing Rooney from the starting XI, with British newspapers describing it as a gamble that backfired.
But Rooney said: “I think the players that came in were good enough to win the game. We should have won the game.
“In terms of Roy’s decision to play me, rest me or not play me, he’s the manager, it’s his decision and I have to respect it.”
As a result of the 0-0 draw that followed in their final Group B game, England find themselves in the tougher half of the Euro 2016 draw – alongside heavyweights like Spain, Germany and hosts France.
While Rooney was adamant that England harboured no regrets about not giving themselves an easier path to the competition’s latter stages, he admits that they must be less charitable against Iceland.
“We have to be more ruthless,” he said.
“If we get that goal early on against Iceland, they will have to come at us, which will suit us as well.”
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Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
THREE
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The%C2%A0specs%20
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The specs: Aston Martin DB11 V8 vs Ferrari GTC4Lusso T
Price, base: Dh840,000; Dh120,000
Engine: 4.0L V8 twin-turbo; 3.9L V8 turbo
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic; seven-speed automatic
Power: 509hp @ 6,000rpm; 601hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 695Nm @ 2,000rpm; 760Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.9L / 100km; 11.6L / 100km
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.
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.
The Saga Continues
Wu-Tang Clan
(36 Chambers / Entertainment One)
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The%20specs
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more from Janine di Giovanni
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.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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