The Young Boys of Berne truly set down a marker. The opening match of the group phase of the 2021-22 Champions League produced the first of a few stirring comebacks, the first shock result and it rather burst the balloon of the old master around whom so much attention had been focused.
A shame for Cristiano Ronaldo, who had done what he could - and regularly does - to maintain his sense of hierarchy in a competition where he owns several of the towering records. He scored on his European return for Manchester United; he was not on the pitch when the upstarts from Switzerland reversed the contest, with their late second goal and a 2-1 win.
In a raucous Bruges the following night, that other grandmaster Lionel Messi also encountered resistance to his fairytale scenario. Messi started for Paris Saint-Germain, his new club, for the first time, and he struck the crossbar in the first half. But he could hardly complain at the manner in which a bullish Club Bruges responded to falling behind and, chance for chance, more than matched PSG’s expensive assembly of attacking stars. Bruges pulled back to a 1-1 draw.
Young Boys had shown Bruges the way. And it would be an exceptional round for youngish boys at many venues. More than 50 of the players involved in the 16 Champions League matches this week were born in the 20th century, or, put another way, not yet born when Messi, 34, and Ronaldo, 36, were already purposeful teenagers on their own fast tracks to greatness.
Some of the starlets are already well-versed in making a precocious impact on club football’s grandest stage. Take Rodrygo Silva de Goes, the mercurial Brazilian winger whose young career seems to work to its own distinct timetable.
He flits in and out of Real Madrid’s seasons, occasionally electric, sometimes exasperating to his head coaches, but can be relied upon to bend the group phase of each Champions League autumn his club’s way, year after year.
Rodrygo was 18 when he made his home Champions League debut against Galatasaray in 2019. He scored a hat-trick and set up another of the six goals Madrid scored that night.
In his next two starts in Europe he scored once and assisted twice. Rodrygo then went into what has become his typical winter hibernation, a period disrupted by injury in the last two seasons and then a struggle to gain form and momentum.
But when the Champions League group phase comes around again, the starlet Rodrygo is reborn. Last season he made the difference in a tight, topsy-turvy group thanks to his late, match-winning strike for Madrid against Internazionale. He then all but scored in the away fixture at Inter, a decisive strike designated as an own goal, off Achraf Hakimi, in what would be a crucial double over the Italian club. Madrid only scraped out of third place in the group on the sixth matchday, when, naturally, a Rodrygo pass helped them to defeat Borussia Monchengladbach.
On Wednesday Madrid were at Inter again. And Rodrygo came off the bench again to act as Inter’s nemesis. His 89th minute winner was the only goal of the game. “I think every time I play in the Champions League I do something to help the team”, said Rodrygo, who turned 20 in January as he looked over a record of a goal per 112 minutes of European action.
All he needs now is to replicate that effectiveness in La Liga. “It’s always difficult at Real Madrid to find a space in the side,” he reflected, as his head coach, Carlo Ancelotti, counselled: “It’s not how many minutes you play, it’s what you do with those minutes that’s important.”
The Rodrygo winner against Inter had been set up by Eduardo Camavinga’s stylish volley, a nice memento for Camavinga to take from his European debut for Madrid.
It had been a good night for Camavinga’s fellow 18-year-old, Jude Bellingham, brilliant as an assister and goalscorer in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 win at Besiktas, where he was joined on the field by Youssoufa Moukoko. Moukoko made his Champions League debut last December, but is still more than two months shy of his 17th birthday.
Barcelona used four teenagers against Bayern Munich, whose own 18-year-old Jamal Musiala outshone them all. RB Salzburg used three teens in the draw against Sevilla, and at Anfield, a 19-year-old came off the bench in the see-saw Liverpool-AC Milan game. He was Daniel Maldini, making his debut in the European Cup, a competition which his grandfather Cesare won in 1963 and his father Paolo won five times in all.
Results
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (Dirt) 1,600m; Winner: RB Kings Bay, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 70,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: AF Ensito, Fernando Jara, Mohamed Daggash
8pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,400m; Winner: AF Sourouh, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
8.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 1,800m; Winner: Baaher, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
9pm: Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Mootahady, Antonio Fresu, Eric Lemartinel
9.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh70,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Dubai Canal, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
10pm: Al Ain Cup – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Harrab, Bernardo Pinheiro, Majed Al Jahouri
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
MATCH RESULT
Al Jazira 3 Persepolis 2
Jazira: Mabkhout (52'), Romarinho (77'), Al Hammadi (90' 6)
Persepolis: Alipour (42'), Mensha (84')
ARM%20IPO%20DETAILS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EShare%20price%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETarget%20raise%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%248%20billion%20to%20%2410%20billion%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EProjected%20valuation%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%2460%20billion%20to%20%2470%20billion%20(Source%3A%20Bloomberg)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELead%20underwriters%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Barclays%2C%20Goldman%20Sachs%20Group%2C%20JPMorgan%20Chase%20and%20Mizuho%20Financial%20Group%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE SQUAD
Omar Abdulrahman (Al Hilal), Ali Khaseif, Ali Mabkhout, Salem Rashed, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Zayed Al Ameri, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Khalid Essa, Ahmed Barman, Ryan Yaslam, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmin (Al Wasl), Adel Al Hosani, Ali Hassan Saleh, Majed Suroor (Sharjah), Ahmed Khalil, Walid Abbas, Majed Hassan, Ismail Al Hammadi (Shabab Al Ahli), Hassan Al Muharrami, Fahad Al Dhahani (Bani Yas), Mohammed Al Shaker (Ajman)
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Naga
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
Race card
5.30pm: Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m
6.05pm: Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,400m
6.40pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.15pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 1,200m
7.50pm: Longines Stakes – Conditions (TB) Dh120,00 (D) 1,900m
8.25pm: Zabeel Trophy – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh120,000 (T) 1,600m
9pm: Handicap (TB) Dh105,000 (T) 2,410m
9.35pm: Handicap (TB) Dh92,500 (T) 2,000m
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final, first leg:
Liverpool 5
Salah (35', 45 1'), Mane (56'), Firmino (61', 68')
Roma 2
Dzeko (81'), Perotti (85' pen)
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Company%C2%A0profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eamana%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Karim%20Farra%20and%20Ziad%20Aboujeb%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EUAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERegulator%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDFSA%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinancial%20services%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E85%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESelf-funded%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Challenge Cup result:
1. UAE 3 faults
2. Ireland 9 faults
3. Brazil 11 faults
4. Spain 15 faults
5. Great Britain 17 faults
6. New Zealand 20 faults
7. Italy 26 faults
