Shabab's midfielder Ahmad Nourollahi, centre, vies for the ball with Foolad's midfielder Sina Moridi during the AFC Champions League match at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah. AFP
Shabab's midfielder Ahmad Nourollahi, centre, vies for the ball with Foolad's midfielder Sina Moridi during the AFC Champions League match at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah. AFP
Shabab's midfielder Ahmad Nourollahi, centre, vies for the ball with Foolad's midfielder Sina Moridi during the AFC Champions League match at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah. AFP
Shabab's midfielder Ahmad Nourollahi, centre, vies for the ball with Foolad's midfielder Sina Moridi during the AFC Champions League match at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in Jeddah. AFP

Sport

Football

Shabab Al Ahli’s super subs save the day in AFC Champions League

UAE club secure 1-1 draw against Foolad Khouzestan

Amith Passela
Amith Passela

April 11, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

Shabab Al Ahli manager Mahdi Ali was all praise for his super subs Federico Cartabia and Yahya Al Ghassani after both combined to score an injury-time equaliser for the UAE club and salvage a 1-1 draw against Foolad Khouzestan of Iran in the AFC Champions League on Sunday.

Al Ghassani came off the bench after 88 minutes to set up Cartabia with a pinpoint pass as the Argentine forward scored from inside the six-yard box for their second point in as many games.

Foolad took the lead when Hamid Bouhamdan’s strike deflected off Shabab Al Ahli midfielder Ahmed Noorollahi in the 83rd minute and looked like they had done enough to win all three points before Mahdi Ali’s men struck.

“We put in two players as a striker and one to play behind their defence and I’m happy for both the players to get an assist and score after returning from injury,” manager Ali said.

“But the team did well so this is an effort from everyone. It was a strong and equal game for both teams. There was pressure in the first 10 minutes but we got into the vibe of the game.

“We came into this match to win but we also know they are a strong team. At least we didn’t lose this match so we still have a chance at qualifying,” added Ali.

Foolad manager Javad Nekounam could not hide his disappointment after missing the chance of securing full points.

“We created opportunities successfully but six of our players were up on the field trying to score the second goal,” he said.

“That was a lack of experience and we accept the draw. You cannot make a mistake against a team like Shabab, they will punish you."

After two draws from the opening two matches, the former Iran international is hoping his team will turn a corner in the hotly contested Group C where they trail the leaders Al Gharafa by two points.

“We put in all our efforts to win this game but there are times when we were unlucky,” Nekounam added.

“The team created many opportunities but we didn’t score. There is still a long way to go in the competition so hopefully our players will have more experience in the next matches.”

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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Updated: April 11, 2022, 12:59 PM
UAE