The clock registered just over three minutes. Morocco conceded a corner and via a simple, floated cross, the damage was done. The 2018 World Cup had barely entered its second matchday, Cristiano Ronaldo had headed in his fourth goal of the tournament and Herve Renard’s team were heading for their early exit.
Renard, the much-travelled coach who on Tuesday sets out his plan for Saudi Arabia to stifle Argentina, goes into his second World Cup hopeful that the chances of progress to the second round at least lasts longer than it did at his first taste of the event.
In Russia four years ago, he was the sharp-dressed touchline animator of a Morocco team whose defeats in their first two matches consigned them to the foot of their group but whose performances hinted at better. They would twice take in the lead against Spain in their last, drawn, group game.
Renard had by then been painfully reminded of the match-shaping power of a megastar. The Ronaldo header, the only goal of Portugal-Morocco, sealed his team’s exit. For his next go at the great showpiece, Renard is immediately confronted with another all-time great, Lionel Messi.
“I’m not really one for focussing on superstars,” Renard told Le Figaro, “but you can only respect a fantastic player, his great career and what he represents. Argentina have the capacity to win this World Cup and as Messi has never done that, it’s a fierce desire for him.”
Renard may resist too much focus on individual superstars, but they have marked his life in football. He was a solid defender as a player in his native France but recognised the ceiling of his ambitions while at Cannes. Keeping up with a brilliant young dribbler named Zinedine Zidane, a Cannes prodigy while Renard was reaching senior level, was one of the challenges.
Renard would find his ideal vocation as a coach, studious, charismatic, a strong communicator, and open to learning experiences as diverse as assisting at Cambridge United, of the fourth tier of English football; the Chinese league, in the early 2000s before it became fashionable and monied; and the club game in Vietnam.
By the time he took the assistant manager’s position with Ghana in 2007, Renard, not yet 40, had already coached in four different countries on two continents.
In Africa, his third continent, he would make himself a superstar manager, instantly recognisable in his crisp, pressed white shirts, a trademark touchline outfit for a long period. He has overseen two Africa Cup of Nations triumphs, the first in 2012 with unfancied Zambia, the second with Ivory Coast in 2015, bringing to an end a long sequence of Ivorian near-misses in the tournament. In qualifying Morocco for Russia 2018, he ended the Atlas Lions’ 20-year absence from World Cups.
The challenge with Saudi Arabia is distinct. This is the country’s sixth World Cup in eight editions. A tantalising bar was set at their first, in 1994, when a second-placed group finish, thanks to Saeed Al-Owairan’s timelessly brilliant goal against Belgium, put them into the last 16.
The tale since has been of first-phase elimination each time, and, as Renard is acutely aware as he surveys Messi’s form and drive and an Argentina fresh from their five-goal win over UAE, some notoriously poor starts: an 8-0 loss against Germany on matchday one in 2002; 5–0 to Russia on the opening night four years ago.
Renard was appointed in 2019, following a last-16 exit, under Juan Antonio Pizzi, at the Asia Cup, and, drawing heavily on the Al-Hilal players who have twice been Asian club champions during his time in charge, built a formidable momentum during World Cup qualifying - 13 victories and a single defeat, to Japan, in 18 matches across the two group stages.
His win record already makes him the most successful foreign coach Saudi Arabia have employed. And there have been several distinguished ones: Pizzi came into the job on the back of winning the Copa America with Chile. Bert Van Marwijk, in the post until 2017, took the Netherlands to a World Cup final; Frank Rijkaard, in charge for two years to 2013, won the European Champions League with Barcelona.
Renard’s privilege is to be in the post for the World Cup closest to home, the beneficiary of strong on-site support from fans who have travelled over the border into Qatar. But there are extra pressures on Saudi Arabia because it is the first World Cup in the region.
“Supporters aren’t always realistic and, in some minds, if we don’t go through to the next round, it’s a failure,” said Renard. “It’s our dream to qualify from the group but Argentina, Mexico and Poland, the group opponents, are above us.”
Well above: at third, 13th, and 26th in the Fifa rankings, to Saudi Arabia’s 51st. And it’s a group with super-concentrated superstar presence. Once he and his players have come through the Messi experience, Renard has four days to prepare for Poland and Robert Lewandowski.
MATCH INFO
England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)
New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
- Dubai Hurricanes v Abu Dhabi Saracens
- Jebel Ali Dragons v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
DUNGEONS%20%26%20DRAGONS%3A%20HONOR%20AMONG%20THIEVES
%3Cp%3EDirectors%3A%20John%20Francis%20Daley%20and%20Jonathan%20Goldstein%3Cbr%3EStars%3A%20Chris%20Pine%2C%20Michelle%20Rodriguez%2C%20Rege-Jean%20Page%2C%20Justice%20Smith%2C%20Sophia%20Lillis%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
EA Sports FC 26
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3/5
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.”
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
