Carlos Queiroz announced his immediate departure from his role as Egypt manager after the penalty shootout defeat to Senegal ended their hopes of qualifying for the 2022 World Cup.
Queiroz took charge of the Pharaohs in September last year and led the team to the Africa Cup of Nations final in February, where they also lost in a penalty shootout to Senegal. It was a case of history repeating itself on Tuesday as another shootout defeat to Senegal put paid to their hopes of reaching Qatar.
A clause in Queiroz's contract stipulated that it would be terminated if Egypt failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and the Portuguese coach confirmed he would be stepping down with immediate effect.
“It’s time for me to leave the leadership of Egypt to someone else,” Queiroz said. “Today my dream was to get Egypt for the fifth time to me to the World Cup, but it was [Aliou] Cisse who qualified with Senegal.
“The game is over. We unfortunately failed to reach the World Cup. It’s all over and there’s not a lot of things to say. I congratulate [my players] on the game they played and I also congratulate Senegal after playing a big game. We should not forget that Senegal will represent Africa in the World Cup and we wish them good luck.
“Egypt will start preparing for the upcoming tournaments as well as the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup.”
The tie ended 1-1 after Senegal won the second leg 1-0, following Egypt's one-goal victory in Cairo in the first fixture. The contest was settled in a penalty shootout that saw Mohamed Salah, Ahmed Sayed Zizo, and Mostafa Mohamed all miss their spot kicks, with Salah subjected to laser pens being shone in his face as he prepared to take his penalty. As was the case in the Afcon final, Salah's Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane scored the winning penalty to send Senegal to the World Cup.
Queiroz admitted that he wanted to face Senegal and Cisse again in the hope of exacting revenge for the Afcon final heartbreak, and believes that if he had more time to work with the Egypt squad then the outcome of their World Cup qualifying campaign could have been different.
“I have no objection to admitting it, I wanted to meet Cisse again to beat him," he said. “But maybe if I had worked like him for seven years with Egypt as he continued with Senegal, I would have won it.
“Tonight we have provided all the solutions, but this is the race for the World Cup, more than 230 countries are competing to reach the World Cup, but only the best do so."
In addition to the Salah's laser pen treatment, the match in Dakar was marred by accusations of racism as well as the Egypt team bus being vandalised.
"The Egypt national team have been exposed to racism with offensive signs in the stands against the Egyptian players in general, and Mohamed Salah in particular," a statement from the Egyptian FA read.
"The crowd also intimidated the players by throwing bottles and rocks on them during the warm-up.
"The Egyptian group's bus has also been exposed to assaults that led to broken windows and injuries; filed with pictures and videos as proof in the complaint submitted."
If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).
The specs: 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio
Price, base: Dh198,300
Engine: 2.0L in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 280hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,250rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7L / 100km
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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