Everton Ribeiro flicked the ball over Ibrahim Diaky’s head, feinted his way through two more rivals and forced Ahmed Barman to take the Brazilian’s legs from under him.
Barman promptly collected a yellow card — justifiably, too — yet the foul seemed his only option, an admission that, much like his Al Ain teammates, he simply could not cope with Al Ahli’s creator-in-chief.
Ribeiro had run the Garden City club ragged in the first half of last week’s Asian Champions League last-16 first leg in Dubai, teasing and taunting as the hosts sought to strike the initial blow.
Earlier, he had conjured a golden opportunity for Majed Hassan and even outwitted Omar Abdulrahman with an audacious piece of skill.
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This was Ribeiro at his inventive best, the Ribeiro who claims to have previously tempted Manchester United and AC Milan, the Ribeiro who in February coaxed from Ahli a reported €9 million (Dh36m) in transfer fee and a further €4.5m-per-year in salary.
Yet this was the same Ribeiro who for a long time struggled to justify Ahli’s outlay.
After scoring on debut, he managed only two more goals in 12 domestic appearances.
The problem was not entirely his doing: coming into a new country, a new culture and a new league always requires a period of adaptation, while Ahli struggled to regularly find the net and Ahmed Khalil was not the perfect foil up front. But, still, the critics circled.
Gradually, though, the real Ribeiro has begun to materialise.
He scored in each of Ahli’s final three Champions League group matches, helping the Dubai club secure two victories to reach the knockout stages for the first time.
Then, last week he was the principal playmaker on a pitch that included Abdulrahman.
Finally, Ribeiro is living up to his billing and another standout performance is required in Wednesday night’s clash with Al Ain if Ahli are to continue on the continent.
Even if they do not, this year’s competition has given reason for optimism about their prized No 8.
Ribeiro has proven he possesses the talent to be the league’s main man next season.
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Planes grounded by coronavirus
British Airways: Cancels all direct flights to and from mainland China
Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific: Cutting capacity to/from mainland China by 50 per cent from Jan. 30
Chicago-based United Airlines: Reducing flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong
Ai Seoul: Suspended all flights to China
Finnair: Suspending flights to Nanjing and Beijing Daxing until the end of March
Indonesia's Lion Air: Suspending all flights to China from February
South Korea's Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air and Jin Air: Suspend all flights
RESULT
Valencia 3
Kevin Gameiro 21', 51'
Ferran Torres 67'
Atlanta 4
Josip Llicic 3' (P), 43' (P), 71', 82'
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies direct from Dubai to Rio de Janeiro from Dh7,000 return including taxes. Avianca fliles from Rio to Cusco via Lima from $399 (Dhxx) return including taxes.
The trip
From US$1,830 per deluxe cabin, twin share, for the one-night Spirit of the Water itinerary and US$4,630 per deluxe cabin for the Peruvian Highlands itinerary, inclusive of meals, and beverages. Surcharges apply for some excursions.
