Saido Berahino insists securing England’s passage to the Uefa Under-21 Championship is the only thing on his mind despite the increasing plaudits coming his way.
The in-form West Brom striker was on target again for England Under-21s, converting a late penalty to secure a 2-1 victory over Croatia in the first leg of their Euro 2015 play-off at Molineux.
It was the 21-year-old’s ninth goal at this level in nine appearances – all of which have come during the qualifying campaign – and maintained a rich spell of form after five in his last three Albion games.
His recent performances have led to calls for full international recognition but Berahino is ignoring the acclaim to focus solely on Tuesday’s second leg in Vinkovci, where a place in the finals will be at stake.
Berahino said: “I am just feeling good every game. I am growing. I feel confident but I am just trying to take each game as it comes, and trying to improve every game.
“It’s still only like a draw really because they’ve got the away goal. We have got to go there and make sure we finish the job off, make sure we qualify.
“That is all we are looking forward to, making sure we qualify.”
Berahino was a constant threat to the Croatia defence and formed part of dangerous attacking trio along with fellow goalscorer Harry Kane and Norwich winger Nathan Redmond.
Yet while England arguably deserved their victory for creating the better chances throughout, they needed to show character after falling behind early to a technically sound Croatia side.
England were caught napping at a corner in the 13th minute and Marko Livaja headed the visitors ahead.
The impressive Luke Shaw had a fierce shot tipped onto the post by goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, who also saved well from Redmond, but it was not until just before the hour that England levelled.
Berahino and Kane showed good understanding as the Tottenham forward guided in a deft header from his strike partner’s cross.
The winner came five minutes from time after Berahino was felled by Livakovic as he latched onto a Redmond throughball. He blasted the resulting spot-kick hard into the bottom corner.
Berahino said: “I thought, ‘Just put it in the back of the net’.
“Luckily for me I’ve been taking penalties for my club, so it is not a situation I have never done before. I was confident enough that if I got clean contact on it I would beat the keeper.
“It was great I managed to put it in the back of the net for the winning goal.”
England, who won nine out of 10 of their group games, have enjoyed a highly impressive qualifying campaign to date and they are now just one good performance away from booking a summer trip to the Czech Republic.
“We showed great character,” Berahino said. “We bounced back from giving them a cheap goal. It just shows how strong this group is.
“We went down and we managed to come back to win the game. Now we go to their place full of confidence and hopefully we will finish the job there.
“We know if we stay doing our things – the right things – we will be able to get over the final hurdle.”
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mina Cup winners
Under 12 – Minerva Academy
Under 14 – Unam Pumas
Under 16 – Fursan Hispania
Under 18 – Madenat
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more
RESULT
Australia 3 (0) Honduras 1 (0)
Australia: Jedinak (53', 72' pen, 85' pen)
Honduras: Elis (90 4)
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
Honeymoonish
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
More on animal trafficking
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.5-litre V6
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
On sale: now
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
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Kanye%20West
%3Cp%3EYe%20%E2%80%94%20the%20rapper%20formerly%20known%20as%20Kanye%20West%20%E2%80%94%20has%20seen%20his%20net%20worth%20fall%20to%20%24400%20million%20in%20recent%20weeks.%20That%E2%80%99s%20a%20precipitous%20drop%20from%20Bloomberg%E2%80%99s%20estimates%20of%20%246.8%20billion%20at%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3Cbr%3EYe%E2%80%99s%20wealth%20plunged%20after%20business%20partners%2C%20including%20Adidas%2C%20severed%20ties%20with%20him%20on%20the%20back%20of%20anti-Semitic%20remarks%20earlier%20this%20year.%3Cbr%3EWest%E2%80%99s%20present%20net%20worth%20derives%20from%20cash%2C%20his%20music%2C%20real%20estate%20and%20a%20stake%20in%20former%20wife%20Kim%20Kardashian%E2%80%99s%20shapewear%20firm%2C%20Skims.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The%20specs
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Scoreline:
Manchester City 1
Jesus 4'
Brighton 0
Day 1 results:
Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
Australia 126 (4) beat Malaysia -16 (0)
Open Women
New Zealand 64 (2) beat South Africa 57 (2)
England 69 (3) beat UAE 63 (1)
Australia 124 (4) beat UAE 23 (0)
New Zealand 74 (2) beat England 55 (2)
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
MO
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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.
