Gremio celebrate with the Libertadores Cup after beating Lanus in the final on Wednesday. David Fernandez / EPA
Gremio celebrate with the Libertadores Cup after beating Lanus in the final on Wednesday. David Fernandez / EPA
Gremio celebrate with the Libertadores Cup after beating Lanus in the final on Wednesday. David Fernandez / EPA
Gremio celebrate with the Libertadores Cup after beating Lanus in the final on Wednesday. David Fernandez / EPA

Gremio win Copa Libertadores to complete Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2017 line-up


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Gremio won the Copa Libertadores on Wednesday after a 2-1 win over Argentine side Lanus gave the Brazilian team a 3-1 aggregate victory and their third Libertadores title.

Fernandinho got Gremio's first goal after 26 minutes when he stole possession in his own half before running 40 yards and hammering the ball home from just inside the penalty box.

Luan doubled their lead four minutes before half time when he drifted past three defenders on the edge of the box and lifted a delightful chip over the helpless keeper.

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Jose Sand pulled one back for Lanus from the penalty spot after 71 minutes.

Gremio, who also won the title in 1983 and 1995, had beaten the Argentine side 1-0 at home last week in Porto Alegre.

The win was a personal triumph for Gremio manager Renato Gaucho, who won the title with the club in 1983 and became the first Brazilian to lift the trophy as both a player and manager.

Attacking midfielder Luan was named the tournament's Best Player.

"We are going to celebrate until Saturday, Sunday," goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe said in a televised interview in front of thousands of ecstatic visiting fans.

"This is exciting, this is what these supporters deserve."

Gremio's next assignment as South American champions will be next month in the UAE when they compete in the Fifa Club World Cup UAE 2017.

The Club World Cup is a seven-team tournament that pits against one another the champions of the various confederations, together with a representative from the host country.

Uefa Champions League winners, and reigning Club World Cup holders, Real Madrid headline the tournament and are joined in the UAE by African champions Wydad Casablanca, winners of the Asian Champions League, Urawa Red Diamonds, Oceania champions Auckland City, and Central American champions Pachuca.

Completing the line-up are the winners of the UAE's Arabian Gulf League, Al Jazira.

Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Kevin Hart
3/5 stars

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog

Favourite book: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Favourite holiday destination: Spain

Favourite film: Bohemian Rhapsody

Favourite place to visit in the UAE: The beach or Satwa

Children: Stepdaughter Tyler 27, daughter Quito 22 and son Dali 19

Premier League results

Saturday

Crystal Palace 1 Brighton & Hove Albion 2

Cardiff City 2 West Ham United 0

Huddersfield Town 0 Bournemouth 2

Leicester City 3 Fulham 1

Newcastle United 3 Everton 2

Southampton 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Manchester City 3 Watford 1

Sunday

Liverpool 4 Burnley 2

Chelsea 1 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1

Arsenal 2 Manchester United 0

 

Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?

The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.

Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.

New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.

“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.

The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.

The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.

Bloomberg

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Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance

Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.

Stat of the day – 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.

The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227-4 at the close.