New Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez is focused on improving the team’s defence during the forthcoming season, while sticking to the club’s attacking philosophy.
The former Napoli boss, who replaced the sacked Carlo Ancelotti at the Santiago Bernabeu in June, wants to build a side that can “attack as well as in recent years” but which can also “defend a little better”.
The manager’s comments — released on the club’s official website on Wednesday — touched on “achieving the balance that will allow us (Real Madrid) to win more matches, and have more opportunities to win titles.”
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The ten-time European champions, who finished runners-up in the Primera Liga last season behind rivals Barcelona, are currently training in Australia where they will face Italian side AS Roma on Saturday, July 18 before taking on 2014 English champions Manchester City the following Friday.
Both matches will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground — a 100,000-capacity stadium.
“It’s (Australia) not as hot as in other places and it allows us to really work hard, and the fact that the pitches are of good quality allows us to have the ball movement and intensity that we wanted,” said Benitez ahead of the games.
Madrid were left trophyless last season as their great rivals Barcelona completed a treble of Liga, Copa del Rey and Uefa Champions League crowns.
Benitez’s side have made just one major summer signing thus far — Brazilian right-back Danilo who arrived from FC Porto — but have been strongly linked with Manchester United’s Spanish goalkeeper David de Gea as a replacement for Iker Casillas who has left for Porto.
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Racecard
7pm: Abu Dhabi - Conditions (PA) Dh 80,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.30pm: Dubai - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,400m
8pm: Sharjah - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 1,600m
8.30pm: Ajman - Handicap (TB) Dh82,500 (D) 2,200m
9pm: Umm Al Quwain - The Entisar - Listed (TB) Dh132,500 (D) 2,000m
9.30pm: Ras Al Khaimah - Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,600m
10pm: Fujairah - Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (D) 1,200m
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
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