Bert van Marwijk rues first-half display in South Korea as UAE World Cup bid stutters again

UAE manager Bert van Marwijk says a poor first-half performance was the reason for Thursday's defeat against South Korea , as their World Cup hopes suffered another blow.

The national team, searching for a first victory in the final round of qualifying, were beaten 1-0 at the Goyang Stadium on Thursday, when Hwang Hee-chan’s first-half penalty proved decisive.

However, the UAE were outplayed for the majority of the game, with South Korea hitting the woodwork three times – twice in a hugely dominant opening 45 minutes – and creating a series of other chances.

For the UAE, their only real opportunity of note came around the hour, with Tahnoun Al Zaabi’s effort from range saved well by home goalkeeper Kim Seung-gyu.

The result means Van Marwijk’s men sit second bottom in Group A at the halfway stage, eight points off the automatic-qualification spots and two behind Lebanon in third. Third place offers a path to the World Cup through a series of play-offs. The UAE take on Lebanon in Sidon on Tuesday.

Speaking after the South Korea defeat, Van Marwijk said: “We knew already that we played against the best team in this group and that it would be a difficult game for us.

“The whole week we trained and we coached that the team needs courage to play football here, because we can play football. We did it in the second half, but not in the first half. And that was our problem.

“Every game we prepare the team to try to play to win, and if you give away the initiative too easy like we did in the first half, it’s more difficult to win. Also in this game, where Korea get a lot of chances, then you always get one or two chances. And we had one, and the goalkeeper of Korea made a good save.

“Then you can also play 1-1. Maybe it’s not the result we deserve, but it’s possible. It’s football.”

The UAE are attempting to qualify for a World Cup for only the second time in the country's history having played the tournament in 1990. In contrast, South Korea are bidding to make a 10th successive global finals. Sitting second in the group, two points behind leaders Iran, they face Iraq in Doha on Tuesday.

On Thursday’s victory, manager Paulo Bento said: “It was a very good performance in all the moments of the game as we controlled and dominated from the beginning. The victory is fair, but the difference should have been bigger. We created a lot of chances that should have decided the game earlier.

“The media put the focus on the number of goals scored rather than the opportunities created. People should see the way we play and the chances we have created in many games. The goals will come if we keep creating the opportunities that we have been.”

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

The most expensive investment mistake you will ever make

When is the best time to start saving in a pension? The answer is simple – at the earliest possible moment. The first pound, euro, dollar or dirham you invest is the most valuable, as it has so much longer to grow in value. If you start in your twenties, it could be invested for 40 years or more, which means you have decades for compound interest to work its magic.

“You get growth upon growth upon growth, followed by more growth. The earlier you start the process, the more it will all roll up,” says Chris Davies, chartered financial planner at The Fry Group in Dubai.

This table shows how much you would have in your pension at age 65, depending on when you start and how much you pay in (it assumes your investments grow 7 per cent a year after charges and you have no other savings).

Age	$250 a month	$500 a month	$1,000 a month
25	$640,829	$1,281,657	$2,563,315
35	$303,219	$606,439	$1,212,877
45	$131,596	$263,191	$526,382
55	$44,351	$88,702	$177,403

RESULT

Kolkata Knight Riders 169-7 (20 ovs)
Rajasthan Royals 144-4 (20 ovs)

Kolkata win by 25 runs

Next match

Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kolkata Knight Riders, Friday, 5.30pm

The five stages of early child’s play

From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:

1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.

2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.

3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.

4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.

5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.

NO OTHER LAND

Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal

Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham

Rating: 3.5/5

Company Fact Box

Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019

Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO

Based: Amman, Jordan

Sector: Education Technology

Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed

Stage: early-stage startup

Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.

The British in India: Three Centuries of Ambition and Experience

by David Gilmour

Allen Lane