Theo Walcott, right, dribbles pass the Udinese defender Neuton. Walcott's 69th minute goal sealed the tie for the English club.
Theo Walcott, right, dribbles pass the Udinese defender Neuton. Walcott's 69th minute goal sealed the tie for the English club.

Depleted Arsenal battle to Champions League group stage



UDINE, ITALY // Arsenal will compete in the Champions League for the 14th consecutive season after their beleaguered side came from behind to record a brave 2-1 victory at Udinese to win 3-1 on aggregate.

Leading 1-0 from the first leg of the play-off tie, Arsenal were menaced throughout by the threat of an elimination that would have been unthinkable in both sporting and financial terms for the club.

In the 39th minute, Udinese's irrepressible talisman Antonio di Natale guided a header inside the right-hand post that levelled the tie on aggregate and took the Italians to within a goal of the group phase.

Arsenal captain Robin van Persie equalised 10 minutes into the second half, but the hosts were handed a chance to re-establish their advantage shortly afterwards when referee the Olegario Benquerenca awarded a penalty against Thomas Vermaelen for handball.

Wojciech Szczesny excelled himself in the face of Di Natale's spot-kick, plunging to his right and somehow palming the ball over the crossbar despite the power and precision behind the Italian's rising shot.

The shock of spurning such an opportunity drew the hosts' sting and Theo Walcott put Arsenal out of sight in the 69th minute by racing into the box and coolly beating goalkeeper Samir Handanovic at his near post.

"We showed that, under pressure, we can respond with football and remain calm and composed on the ball and play like we know how to play," the Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger told ITV.

"There are many questions around our club. If we'd gone out tonight it would have been worse for the team to play in a serene way.

"It was important tonight. Not financially, as some people have said, but more because we want to play at the top level."

On the day that Samir Nasri completed his move to Manchester City — and just nine days after Cesc Fabregas returned to Barcelona — it was a timely victory for Wenger, whose methods had been called into question with greater zeal than ever before as his squad collapsed around him.

His starting line-up contained five players aged 21 or under and two 19-year-old Champions League debutants in the shape of right-back Carl Jenkinson and holding midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong.

Frimpong was replaced by Tomas Rosicky at half time but this remained a stirring performance by a young team scarred by the trauma of recent departures and bereft of Jack Wilshere, Laurent Koscielny, Kieran Gibbs, Abou Diaby and Nicklas Bendtner due to injury.

Amid stifling summer heat at Udine's Stadio Friuli, Arsenal began the game with a poise that seemed at odds with both the importance of the occasion and the doubt that is supposed to have overcome their ranks.

But if the visitors' start to the game was typical Arsenal, so was the failure to convert the chances that their slick football occasionally yielded, with Walcott the chief culprit in the 32nd minute.

After first Pablo Armero and then Di Natale had hit the woodwork for Udinese, Walcott could only find Handanovic's gloves after being picked out 10 yards from goal by the impressive Gervinho.

Di Natale's delicately lofted header, from Giampiero Pinzi's dinked pass, suggested Walcott's profligacy would indeed be punished.

Gervinho slipped past Mehdi Benatia to put the equaliser on a plate for van Persie, however, and Walcott's confident finish 14 minutes later stole the wind from the hosts' sails with the ruthlessness of a slashing dagger.

Their lead restored, Arsenal slipped back into trademark ball retention mode and had only a booking for Walcott that rules him out of their next match to rue as they eased into the familiar territory of the group stage.

"We have to accept that we were eliminated by a better team," said the Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin, whose side will now enter the Europa League.

"We held our own against a great team and we're going out with our heads high."

In other Champions League play-off matches Lyon advanced to the group stage for the 12th straight season as a 1-1 draw in Russia gave them a 4-2 aggregate win over Rubin Kazan.

Trailing 3-1 from the first leg, Rubin needed two goals to advance but none was forthcoming in a tense first half.

Bibras Natkho finally struck 13 minutes from the end to give his side hope, but Bakari Kone headed home 10 minutes later to ensure Lyon's safe passage.

Benfica stormed to a 3-1 win over FC Twente giving them a 5-3 aggregate success.

After a goalless first half, Axel Witsel's double, sandwiching a strike from Luisao, put the Portuguese side firmly in control, meaning a late reply from Bryan Ruiz was academic.

Goals from Marek Bakos and Michal Duris ensured there were no mistakes for Viktoria Plzen, who qualified for the group stage for the first time as a 2-1 win over FC Copenhagen gave them a 5-2 aggregate victory.

Christian Bolanos put the visitors ahead in the first half but once the Czechs had levelled midway through the second period it was plain sailing.

BATE Borisov won 2-0 at Sturm Graz to see off the Austrians 3-1 on aggregate thanks to goals either side of half-time from Alyaksandr Valadzko and Marko Simic.

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Tips for job-seekers
  • Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
  • Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.

David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East

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.”

The biog

Name: Marie Byrne

Nationality: Irish

Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption

Book: Seagull by Jonathan Livingston

Life lesson: A person is not old until regret takes the place of their dreams

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

The Sky Is Pink

Director: Shonali Bose

Cast: Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf

Three stars

If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.

When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.

How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
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Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
Afghanistan fixtures
  • v Australia, today
  • v Sri Lanka, Tuesday
  • v New Zealand, Saturday,
  • v South Africa, June 15
  • v England, June 18
  • v India, June 22
  • v Bangladesh, June 24
  • v Pakistan, June 29
  • v West Indies, July 4
German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Results

Stage 7:

1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29

2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time

3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious

4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep

5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM

General Classification:

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35

3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02

4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42

5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45