• Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the first goal in the 5-0 Ligue 1 victory against Auxerre at the Parc des Princes on November 13, 2022. AFP
    Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring the first goal in the 5-0 Ligue 1 victory against Auxerre at the Parc des Princes on November 13, 2022. AFP
  • Mbappe celebrates with Nuno Mendes after opening the scoring. AFP
    Mbappe celebrates with Nuno Mendes after opening the scoring. AFP
  • PSG's Lionel Messi reacts after missing a scoring chance. AP
    PSG's Lionel Messi reacts after missing a scoring chance. AP
  • Lionel Messi fights for the ball with Auxerre's Julian Jeanvier. AFP
    Lionel Messi fights for the ball with Auxerre's Julian Jeanvier. AFP
  • PSG's Kylian Mbappe challenges for the ball with Auxerre's Jubal and Paul Joly. AP
    PSG's Kylian Mbappe challenges for the ball with Auxerre's Jubal and Paul Joly. AP
  • Carlos Soler celebrates are scoring PSG's second goal. AFP
    Carlos Soler celebrates are scoring PSG's second goal. AFP
  • Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi celebrates with teammates after scoring the third goal. AFP
    Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi celebrates with teammates after scoring the third goal. AFP
  • Paris Saint-Germain's Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches celebrates scoring the fourth goal. AFP
    Paris Saint-Germain's Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches celebrates scoring the fourth goal. AFP
  • Forward Hugo Ekitike celebrates scoring PSG's fifth goal. AFP
    Forward Hugo Ekitike celebrates scoring PSG's fifth goal. AFP

World Cup thunders over horizon with fatigue and fitness fears looming large


Ian Hawkey
  • English
  • Arabic

With a quarter of an hour left at the Parc des Princes, the substitution boards went up and down in quick succession. There is often a ceremonial aspect to Paris Saint-Germain’s victories, when huge leads have been built by midway into the second half, and the rest and rotation routine begins.

PSG were 3-0 up by the 75th minute of Sunday’s meeting with Auxerre, five points clear at the top of Ligue 1, and Lionel Messi, among others, had a plane to the Gulf to catch.

Messi came off, and so did Neymar, after demonstrating their fitness and setting down another mark of good form. When PSG scored the first of their unanswered five goals – a Kylian Mbappe strike after 11 minutes – it was the 30th on the trot in which Messi, Neymar or Mbappe have been directly involved.

No sign of readiness for a World Cup that begins on Sunday is more welcome to the coaches of Messi’s Argentina, who play a warm-up match against the UAE on Wednesday, Neymar’s Brazil, or Mbappe’s France. It’s a principal reason why Brazil, France and Argentina are judged as the three top favourites to triumph in Qatar.

For Didier Deschamps, France’s manager, there seemed to be more good news with the substitutions. Presnel Kimpembe came on as Messi, Neymar and Sergio Ramos waved goodbye to this segment of the club season.

Kimpembe, a central defender who captained France in his last international, had been suffering with an Achilles problem, on the back of a hamstring injury. He had played just 70 minutes of football since September 10th. He added 15 minutes against Auxerre but by the next morning sensed there was something wrong.

On Monday, France deemed his recovery “insufficient” and announced Kimpembe would be replaced in their squad by Axel Disasi of Monaco.

Defender Presnel Kimpembe has become the latest France player to drop out of coach Didier Deschamps' World Cup squad. AFP
Defender Presnel Kimpembe has become the latest France player to drop out of coach Didier Deschamps' World Cup squad. AFP

These late adjustments make managers anxious, and Deschamps – who is sweating on the fitness of Raphael Varane, his first-choice centre-back, and is already without N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba, his all-conquering midfield duo at the last World Cup – speaks for all his peers when he complains of the short gap between the first phase of the interrupted club season and the beginning of this World Cup.

“There is no preparation time,” Deschamps told reporters. “For Brazil [2014], we had 28 days, for Russia [2018] 24. This time we get a week. From a sporting point of view, it’s not reasonable.”

Nor is he convinced by the argument that because players will come to Qatar 2022 having played far less than half their league seasons, they will be fresher.

“In terms of physical condition, the players should be less tired than in June, but the fact is the club calendar has been overloaded since August. There are many more injuries than usual because there’s been a constant run of three club matches a week. Bodies are under strain.”

Not least the bodies of probably the most valued footballers from Asia and from sub-Saharan Africa. At the start of this month – only three weeks before South Korea's tournament opener against Uruguay – their superstar Son Heung-min fractured a cheekbone playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League.

South Korea talisman Son Heung-min fractured his cheekbone playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League. AP
South Korea talisman Son Heung-min fractured his cheekbone playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League. AP

The serial Asian Footballer of the Year is in a race against time to be healed enough from surgery to take part in the only World Cup that will be staged in the Asian Confederation during the span of his career. And 12 days before Senegal open their campaign, their figurehead striker Sadio Mane sustained a calf injury in Bayern Munich’s Bundesliga victory over Werder Bremen. The reigning African Player of the Year is a doubtful starter for Monday’s meeting with the Netherlands.

Injury casualties such as Son and Mane preyed on other players’ minds as the club season closed over the last week. Some even admitted it.

After coming through Real Madrid’s bruising Liga victory against Cadiz, Brazil’s Vinicius Junior posted a grateful message: “Another game without injury.” He should be fit to sprint down the flanks of the Lusail Stadium next Thursday, and expecting some tough marking from Serbian defenders. He is used to it. No player in Europe’s leading leagues is more fouled than Vinicius, although his compatriot Neymar runs him close on that count.

Neymar greeted his 75th-minute substitution against Auxerre with a degree of relief that no harm had come to him. He had felt some muscular discomfort in the previous week during practice. Messi had missed the previous match with some tenderness in his calf.

“I wanted to give a rest to Leo and Neymar,” said PSG manager Christophe Galtier of his substitutions. “Everybody wanted to play and it was probably me, not the players, who was most concerned about the World Cup. But it was a perfect afternoon.”

Neymar, Messi and Mbappe now hope for a perfect, and healthy, World Cup.

THE BIO

Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979

Education: UAE University, Al Ain

Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6

Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma

Favourite book: Science and geology

Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC

Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.

Who's who in Yemen conflict

Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government

Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council

Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south

Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory

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.”

UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Countries recognising Palestine

France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra

 

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

The five pillars of Islam
Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EHakbah%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENaif%20AbuSaida%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESaudi%20Arabia%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E22%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Epre-Series%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EGlobal%20Ventures%20and%20Aditum%20Investment%20Management%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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T20 World Cup Qualifier A, Muscat

Friday, February 18: 10am - Oman v Nepal, Canada v Philippines; 2pm - Ireland v UAE, Germany v Bahrain

Saturday, February 19: 10am - Oman v Canada, Nepal v Philippines; 2pm - UAE v Germany, Ireland v Bahrain

Monday, February 21: 10am - Ireland v Germany, UAE v Bahrain; 2pm - Nepal v Canada, Oman v Philippines

Tuesday, February 22: 2pm – semi-finals

Thursday, February 24: 2pm – final

UAE squad: Ahmed Raza (captain), Muhammad Waseem, Chirag Suri, Vriitya Aravind, Rohan Mustafa, Kashif Daud, Zahoor Khan, Alishan Sharafu, Raja Akifullah, Karthik Meiyappan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Zafar Farid, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Rahul Bhatia

All matches to be streamed live on icc.tv

Dunbar
Edward St Aubyn
Hogarth

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

All%20The%20Light%20We%20Cannot%20See%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESteven%20Knight%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EMark%20Ruffalo%2C%20Hugh%20Laurie%2C%20Aria%20Mia%20Loberti%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2F5%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

Updated: November 15, 2022, 2:35 AM