Son Heung-min knows how to make a good first impression. In the last two years, he has served under five different managers at Tottenham Hotspur. Each new one has been immediately comforted by knowing that though the boss may change, the high-class Korean will deliver.
Back in 2019, when Jose Mourinho was Spurs’ surprise choice to replace the sacked Mauricio Pochettino, Son broke the ice, first Spurs goalscorer of the ill-fated Mourinho era. When Ryan Mason took over as caretaker on Mourinho’s dismissal in February, Son converted the late penalty that gave Mason a win in his first fixture in charge.
Enter Nuno Espirito Santo back in August. He was welcomed into the job with a stunning opening-day Premier League victory against Manchester City, thanks to Son’s ambitious strike from distance. Antonio Conte knew the script when he named a Spurs XI for the first time as successor to the short-lived Nuno. Last Thursday, Son put Tottenham 1-0 up in the Europa Conference League meeting with Vitesse Arnhem that lurched one way then another towards a 3-2 Spurs win.
All of which reminds how important the South Korea captain, chief threat to the UAE in Thursday's World Cup qualifier in Goyang, is to his club, and how, whatever Spurs’ shifting tastes in manager or coaching style, Son is blessing, trusted by whoever mans the touchline or assesses values in the boardroom.
He signed a new, four-year Tottenham contract in July, at precisely the time the Spurs captain Harry Kane was telling the club he wanted to leave and when various prospective managers, higher than Nuno on the shortlist, had been turning Spurs down.
The new deal held the promise of more goals in key games, and, as it turned down, once Kane stayed, more time to finesse what has for periods been a brilliantly effective partnership, Son’s pace and generosity as a foil complementing the finishing instincts and the eye for a pass of Kane, Spurs’ leading man.
This time last year, under Mourinho, their complicity was as fine-tuned as any pair of attacking teammates in world football: in Tottenham’s first 11 games of the 2020-21 league season, 11 goals were set up by Son and scored by Kane, or assisted by Kane and finished by Son, and Tottenham were top of the table in England.
Fast forward 12 months and it’s a partnership in need of repairs. From the last days of Nuno’s tenure and the first 90 minutes of Conte as Spurs’s Premier League manager emerges an alarming statistic. Tottenham’s dynamic duo have not registered a shot on target for four hours of league action. Nor has any other Spurs player, but inevitably, after the goalless draw at Everton on Sunday, analysis focused on the shortcomings of Kane and Son.
UAE train ahead of South Korea clash
Colleagues speak highly of Son’s positive outlook, and over his 11-hour flight from London to Seoul to join up with the national team, who sit second in Group A - two places and five points above the UAE - he refocused on Korea’s World Cup campaign. As ever, he is expected to spearhead the push for the points that would maintain their route to automatic qualification. Ahead of Thursday, he has been told that, even more than usual, the emphasis will be on him to supply the cutting edge.
Son, who typically starts from wide left position, is without some trusted allies up front. Hwang Ui-Jo, of Bordeaux, is absent with a hamstring injury. In his place, Korea’s coach Paulo Bento has called up the uncapped Kim Gun-hee, recently recovered from injury and without a goal in the K-League for his club, Suwon Bluewings, since May.
The early-season form of Hwang Hee-chan, who has four Premier League goals for Wolverhampton Wanderers since he joined them on loan from RB Leipzig in the summer, is some encouragement for Bento, who emphasised the importance of containing UAE. “They’re a side who are going to demand a lot of us defensively,” he said. “They work very effectively going forward.”
If that suggested Bento will look to Korea’s counter-attacking strengths, then it would be in keeping with the Portuguese coach’s instincts, and his trust in his captain. Thanks to a breakaway goal from Son, the Koreans earned a 1-1 draw with group-leaders Iran last month.
Thanks to an 89th minute Son match-winner five days earlier, they avoided a slip-up at home to Syria. Without their skipper and lodestar, the World Cup campaign would by now be playing catch-up.
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.”
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League last-16, second leg:
Real Madrid 1 (Asensio 70'), Ajax 4 (Ziyech 7', Neres 18', Tadic 62', Schone 72')
Ajax win 5-3 on aggregate
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Jewel of the Expo 2020
252 projectors installed on Al Wasl dome
13.6km of steel used in the structure that makes it equal in length to 16 Burj Khalifas
550 tonnes of moulded steel were raised last year to cap the dome
724,000 cubic metres is the space it encloses
Stands taller than the leaning tower of Pisa
Steel trellis dome is one of the largest single structures on site
The size of 16 tennis courts and weighs as much as 500 elephants
Al Wasl means connection in Arabic
World’s largest 360-degree projection surface
The Vile
Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah
Director: Majid Al Ansari
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Brief scoreline:
Crystal Palace 2
Milivojevic 76' (pen), Van Aanholt 88'
Huddersfield Town 0
The studios taking part (so far)
- Punch
- Vogue Fitness
- Sweat
- Bodytree Studio
- The Hot House
- The Room
- Inspire Sports (Ladies Only)
- Cryo
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Neil Thomson – THE BIO
Family: I am happily married to my wife Liz and we have two children together.
Favourite music: Rock music. I started at a young age due to my father’s influence. He played in an Indian rock band The Flintstones who were once asked by Apple Records to fly over to England to perform there.
Favourite book: I constantly find myself reading The Bible.
Favourite film: The Greatest Showman.
Favourite holiday destination: I love visiting Melbourne as I have family there and it’s a wonderful place. New York at Christmas is also magical.
Favourite food: I went to boarding school so I like any cuisine really.
