Home advantage helps
Fans turned up in the hundreds of thousands and sang their hearts out, and referees were generous toward the boys from Brazil. But it was not enough for the hosts to win the World Cup.
There was a time, in earlier World Cups, when a partisan home crowd seemed to represented an advantage for the hosts.
In five of the first 11 World Cups (Uruguay 1930, Italy 1934, England 1966, West Germany 1974, Argentina 1978), the competition was won by the host nation.
However, in the following nine editions, including Brazil 2014, only France in 1998 managed the trick.
Of course, in recent years the World Cup has been hosted by emerging football nations like South Africa, the US, and jointly by Japan and Korea, but that still left the likes of Spain, Italy, Germany and Brazil unable to win on their home soil.
Clearly, the trend is not likely to change in Russia 2018 or Qatar 2022.
Negative press is a bad thing
Demonstrations and riots marred the build-up to in Brazil, but once it began we saw full stadiums, record television audiences and unprecedented social-media engagement.
On the beaches and in the fan zones, locals partied with supporters from around the world, many who travelled great distances and at high cost, to watch their team play in different cities.
Nor did extreme temperatures and humidity levels have a significant negative impact on the action.
While not ignoring the socioeconomic concerns, Brazil 2014 has been arguably the best since Spain 1982.
This will be music to the ears of the Qatar 2022 organising committee. The controversy over that tournament’s award will not go away soon, but it seems that if you build state-of-the-art, air-conditioned stadiums, and lush green fields, the fans will come. In Qatar, they will not need to travel far after arriving in Doha.
Brazil 2014 has shown that unfavourable weather, the spectre of civil unrest and high ticket prices are little deterrent to fans at a World Cup.
Population leads to success
Since Brazil’s astonishing loss to Germany, one question has been posed many times: how can a nation of 200 million not produce better strikers than Fred, Jo and Hulk?
The English press lamented the fact that Uruguay, with a population of only 3.3 million, overcame a nation 16 times larger.
Population may be a factor, but it is by no means a decisive one. If it were, China and India would have monopolised the World Cup for decades. And the Netherlands and Uruguay would be football afterthoughts.
In the book Why England Lose, the author Simon Kuper and economist Stefan Szymanski hypothesise that national team performances are dependent on four factors: home advantage, international experience, population size and the size of a nation’s economy.
In 2014, Brazil seemed to have ticked all four boxes, and look what happened to them. Perhaps the importance of statistics is another myth that needs to be discounted.
On the other hand, China’s day may yet come, but that day remains a long way off.
No more unknown stars
In the era of the Uefa Champions League and blanket football coverage, there was little that this World Cup could offer in terms of new talent. Or so we thought.
James Rodriguez, Guillermo Ochoa, Memphis Depay, Divock Origi and DeAndre Yedlin.
To varying degrees, all came into the tournament as relative unknowns, caught the eye, and now are expected to make moves to big clubs this summer.
The World Cup also can overinflate a player’s value. Two years ago, Manchester United could have bought Rodriguez for £5 million (Dh31.4m). After six goals in the fish bowl that is the World Cup, he is now worth 10 times that amount.
There are no easy opponents
Spain against Holland, and Brazil against Germany, proved that pushovers can still be encountered at the hightest international level.
On a serious note, it is the performance of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) members that disprove the notion that the global playing field has been levelled.
There were hopes that the 2002 World Cup would usher in an era of improvement from Asian countries, especially after Australia’s switch to the AFC in 2006. That has not happened.
Between them, the four AFC nations collected a dismal three points from a possible 36 in Brazil, all in games finishing as draws.
The 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia will give the continent a chance to show off its better qualities. But massive improvements are needed before Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.
akhaled@thenational.ae
Follow our sports coverage on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Company%20profile
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MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Messi 23' pen, 45 1', 48', Busquets 85')
Celta Vigo 1 (Olaza 42')
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
Dubai World Cup Carnival Thursday race card
6.30pm: Dubai Millennium Stakes Group Three US$200,000 (Turf) 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,600m
7.40pm: UAE Oaks Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
8.15pm: Zabeel Mile Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,600m
8.50pm: Meydan Sprint Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,000m
9.25pm: Handicap $135,000 (D) 1,400m
10pm: Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Genesis G80 2020 5.0-litre Royal Specs
Engine: 5-litre V8
Gearbox: eight-speed automatic
Power: 420hp
Torque: 505Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.4L/100km
Price: Dh260,500
THE SPECS
Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch
Power: 710bhp
Torque: 770Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 2.9 seconds
Top Speed: 340km/h
Price: Dh1,000,885
On sale: now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
OPTA'S PREDICTED TABLE
1. Liverpool 101 points
2. Manchester City 80
3. Leicester 67
4. Chelsea 63
5. Manchester United 61
6. Tottenham 58
7. Wolves 56
8. Arsenal 56
9. Sheffield United 55
10. Everton 50
11. Burnley 49
12. Crystal Palace 49
13. Newcastle 46
14. Southampton 44
15. West Ham 39
16. Brighton 37
17. Watford 36
18. Bournemouth 36
19. Aston Villa 32
20. Norwich City 29
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
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
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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