Of course, it was him. It had to be. Who else would have stolen his thunder? Who else could have?
Lionel Messi struck down Australia on Saturday night, that lightning-in-a-bottle left foot opening the scoring and paving the way to the World Cup quarter-finals for Argentina.
The Ahmad bin Ali Stadium trembled and then paid tribute. For 90 minutes and more it felt less Al Rayyan and more Rosario. Or anywhere in Argentina.
Their captain had come to conquer. He did just that. In his milestone match, Messi moved within three games of removing that great big millstone from around his neck.
One thousand career matches and counting. By the end of the 1003rd, he could be cradling the one trophy that has eluded him when all others haven’t.
Argentina, two-time world champions, defeated Australia 2-1 on an eventually edgy night to edge on towards what they hope will be a third global title. Louis van Gaal and the Netherlands are next up on Friday.
Australia dispatched, another potential Asian Football Confederation banana skin avoided – just about, after a nervy finale – and Argentina are among the final eight teams at Qatar 2022.
Messi set them on their way. His first telling contribution, the game’s first real action of note, came as an otherwise flat first half crept to its conclusion.
On 35 minutes, the evergreen 35-year-old with a nation’s hopes on his shoulders latched on to Nicolas Otamendi’s touch near the edge of the Australia penalty area and steered his shot low past Mat Ryan.
Messi sprinted in the direction of his adoring fans behind the goal, setting off even before the ball had hit the net. He’s seen it hundreds of times before, anyway: 789 goals in a career almost unapparelled.
In the World Cup alone, it was the ninth time Messi had notched, taking him above the Diego Maradona he hopes to emulate come December 18 in Doha. Only Gabriel Batistuta, with 10 goals in the global finals, has more.
In present day, though, Messi has the Midas touch. The opener against Australia made it 13 goals in his last eight Argentina appearances.
But he was not to do it all by himself. Just before the hour, Argentina appeared to take the contest away from Australia.
Rodrigo De Paul put Ryan under pressure in his area, the goalkeeper took a heavy touch and was robbed by Julian Alvarez, who rolled the ball into the empty net. His second goal in Qatar, the Manchester City forward is clearly enjoying his first World Cup.
Messi, his fifth. Not long after Alvarez, Messi collected the ball in his own half and nearly finished it with the ultimate flourish, only for his shot to be blocked. Maybe he would match Maradona before even lifting the cup.
Then, out of the blue, Australia halved the deficit to tease from Argentina's grip a tense final 15 minutes. Pouncing on a clearance 25 yards from the Argentina goal, Craig Goodwin unleashed a shot that looked destined for the stands. However, it cannoned off Enzo Fernandez and flew past a static Emiliano Martinez.
Australia, attempting to make the quarter-finals for the first time, were back in it. From nowhere. And they possibly should have had another.
Aziz Behich slalomed into the Argentine area, a run as remarkable as Messi’s and, as he bore down on Martinez and prepared to pull the trigger, Lisandro Martinez threw himself at the shot to save his side. Those inside the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium held their collective breath.
They quickly held their heads in their hands. Not for an Australia equaliser, but for Lautaro Martinez’s miss that would have made safe the result. Messi – who else? – laid it on a plate; the Inter Milan attacker miscued wildly.
Then Ryan saved from Exequiel Palacios, Messi curled inches over following a fine run once more, and Ryan repelled Martinez. Still, Argentina were there.
Not quite. Right at the death, Emiliano Martinez saved from substitute Garang Kuol and his teammates piled on top of him in thanks. In relief also. Messi’s big night – aren’t they all at this point? – was safe. Argentina march on.
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
Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
Director: Kangana Ranaut, Krish Jagarlamudi
Producer: Zee Studios, Kamal Jain
Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Danny Denzongpa, Atul Kulkarni
Rating: 2.5/5
SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 20: 11am to 7pm - Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival and Para jiu-jitsu.
Sunday, April 21: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (female) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Monday, April 22: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (male) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Tuesday, April 23: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Wednesday, April 24: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Thursday, April 25: 11am-5pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Friday, April 26: 3pm to 6pm Finals of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Saturday, April 27: 4pm and 8pm awards ceremony.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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.”
Straightforward ways to reduce sugar in your family's diet
- Ban fruit juice and sodas
- Eat a hearty breakfast that contains fats and wholegrains, such as peanut butter on multigrain toast or full-fat plain yoghurt with whole fruit and nuts, to avoid the need for a 10am snack
- Give young children plain yoghurt with whole fruits mashed into it
- Reduce the number of cakes, biscuits and sweets. Reserve them for a treat
- Don’t eat dessert every day
- Make your own smoothies. Always use the whole fruit to maintain the benefit of its fibre content and don’t add any sweeteners
- Always go for natural whole foods over processed, packaged foods. Ask yourself would your grandmother have eaten it?
- Read food labels if you really do feel the need to buy processed food
- Eat everything in moderation
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
Arabian Gulf League fixtures:
Friday:
- Emirates v Hatta, 5.15pm
- Al Wahda v Al Dhafra, 5.25pm
- Al Ain v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, 8.15pm
Saturday:
- Dibba v Ajman, 5.15pm
- Sharjah v Al Wasl, 5.20pm
- Al Jazira v Al Nasr, 8.15pm
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Results:
CSIL 2-star 145cm One Round with Jump-Off
1. Alice Debany Clero (USA) on Amareusa S 38.83 seconds
2. Anikka Sande (NOR) For Cash 2 39.09
3. Georgia Tame (GBR) Cash Up 39.42
4. Nadia Taryam (UAE) Askaria 3 39.63
5. Miriam Schneider (GER) Fidelius G 47.74
