World Cup 2022: UAE manager Bert van Marwijk fully focused on Lebanon opener

UAE manager Bert van Marwijk says preparations for the final round of World Cup qualification have gone well, although he reminded his side not to look past Lebanon in Thursday’s opener.

The UAE kick-start their Group A campaign at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai against the lowest-ranked team in the pool before travelling to Jordan to take on Syria on September 7. Iran, South Korea and Iraq make up the group.

Seeking to reach only a second World Cup in the country’s history, the UAE know a fast start is required if they are to seal one of the two automatic spots available for Qatar 2022. Third place could also be enough to reach the finals, however a series of play-offs would then need to be negotiated.

Speaking before training in Dubai on Monday night, Van Marwijk cautioned against underestimating Lebanon, citing the importance of beginning their Round 3 campaign with victory.

“That’s what I tell the players all the time, every day,” the Dutchman said. “I don’t even want to talk about the second game; it’s all about the first game. You have to win the first game and then you will see what happens.

“We are preparing fully. Everybody knows that we already came together just after the last [Arabian Gulf League] round and just before that we had a training camp in Serbia. So the preparation is very good and we have full concentration on the first game.”

Asked about the threat posed by Lebanon, who are ranked 98th by Fifa - the UAE are 68th - Van Marwijk said: “I never talk about our opponents. We survived the [second] round and we are now in the final round. The quality of the opponents now are higher and we respect every opponent. But we always want to play our own game, our own way of playing. That’s why we work this way.”

In his second stint as UAE manager, Van Marwijk has enjoyed success in the region previously having masterminded Saudi Arabia’s qualification for the 2018 World Cup – their first appearance at a global finals in 12 years.

It was put to Van Marwijk on Monday that Group A represents the easier of the two in the third round - Group B includes Japan, Australia, Saudi Arabia and China - although the former Netherlands manager replied: "Somebody says difficult, somebody says easy. Nothing will be easy. Never.

“We are now in the final round for qualification, and I already said after the [last] round that we have a chance. And I still think the same.”

Van Marwijk’s squad for the double-header has been depleted by the withdrawal of Hassan Al Muharrami. The Baniyas defender, 25, suffered a cruciate ligament injury during training on Sunday and is expected to be out for rest of the season.

“I feel very sorry for him,” Van Marwijk said. “It happened here, there was no contact, no duel, just suddenly. I was with him last night. I feel very sorry for him. I had a lot of trust in him.

“He’s young, and talented, and he came closer and closer to the team, and then this happens. But he’s strong and I’m 100 per cent sure he will come back.”

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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.

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“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.”

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TOURNAMENT INFO

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Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
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UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi

Types of fraud

Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.

Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.

Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.

SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.

Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.

Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.

* Nada El Sawy