England suffered the ignominy of relegation from the Nations League’s top tier after a lacklustre defeat to Italy that raises further concern ahead of the imminent World Cup.
Among the favourites to triumph in Qatar having reached the semi-finals four years ago and the Euro 2020 final, things have gone awry for Gareth Southgate’s side of late.
The Three Lions failed to win any of their four June fixtures and produced a meek response to their 4-0 Molineux mauling against Hungary, with Giacomo Raspadori sealing Roberto Mancini’s Italy a 1-0 victory on Friday.
A fifth straight match without a win means Southgate’s side have been relegated from Group A of the Nations League – a competition they finished third in three years ago – with a game to spare.
Midfielder Declan Rice tried to remain upbeat, telling Channel 4: "It's obviously disappointing. Every tournament we go into, we set out to win. In the Nations League we have slipped below our standards but I didn't think it was all bad tonight.
"It's coming. It was a much better performance than we saw in the summer.
"It's not that we're not creating the chances. I see it in training. There are goals for fun. Trust me, we are going to be good."
Demotion is embarrassing but the performance is arguably of more concern given it is just 59 days until their World Cup opener against Iran.
The Euro 2020 finalists had played out a forgettable goalless draw behind closed doors in June and the first half in Milan somehow managed to be even more dreary as England toiled against the absentee-hit Azzurri.
It did not get any better from the visitors’ perspective as Italy, who will not be in Qatar, kept them at bay and secured victory through Raspadori’s fine effort.
Southgate’s side lacked the ruthlessness called for on the eve of a San Siro encounter that ends with more questions than answers, with just Monday’s home match against Germany to come before the World Cup.
Bukayo Saka, named England men’s player of the year earlier in the day, was deployed at left wing-back at San Siro, where Eric Dier won his first cap since November 2020 among six alterations from the Hungary humbling.
Harry Maguire was another brought in and the out-of-favour Manchester United captain’s name was sung by the 4,415 travelling fans in an expression of support that followed Southgate’s public backing on Thursday.
The 29-year-old settled after a shaky start as Italy began on the front foot, with Gianluca Scamacca all too easily beating him to a deep Federico Dimarco cross from the right.
A combination of Nick Pope, deputising for the injured Jordan Pickford, and the woodwork denied the West Ham striker’s powerful header at his near post before the frontman struck wide from distance.
England quelled that storm and began to enjoy periods of possession, albeit without injecting creativity and excitement into their play.
Cumbersome with the ball, there was precious little to note in terms of chances beyond Jude Bellingham’s strike into the ground and Harry Kane lashing over from distance.
Thankfully there was no additional time at the end of a wretched first half.
Dier produced an important block and Reece James woefully overhit a well-placed free-kick after Leonardo Bonucci had tripped Raheem Sterling on the edge of the box.
Phil Foden threw his hands in the air in frustration as Kane took a shot from an acute angle when he was free at the back post as the visitors’ disjointed display continued.
England were fortunate that a mixture of the offside flag and Nicolo Barella’s poor finishing prevented them falling behind in the 57th minute after Dimarco was put free to send a pinpoint cross to the far post.
Play had now become ragged and stretched, swinging from end to end without much quality. Rafael Toloi prevented Saka reaching a Kane cross before substitute Wilfried Gnonto’s fierce drive forced a fine block.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 68th minute as the Azzurri struck.
Bonucci’s long ball put Raspadori in behind Kyle Walker, with the forward keeping his cool before sending a lovely strike beyond Pope from just inside the box.
Kane forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a double save as England hunted a leveller, with former Southampton forward Manolo Gabbiadini seeing a shot saved by Pope at the other end before Dimarco’s cross-shot hit a post.
Declan Rice saw a hopeful stoppage-time effort saved and Bellingham headed over as Italy saw out victory, leaving the travelling hordes audibly frustrated at full-time.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
MATCH INFO
Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
%3Cp%3EFirst%20ODI%20-%20Sunday%2C%20June%204%20%0D%3Cbr%3ESecond%20ODI%20-%20Tuesday%2C%20June%206%20%0D%3Cbr%3EThird%20ODI%20-%20Friday%2C%20June%209%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EMatches%20at%20Sharjah%20Cricket%20Stadium.%20All%20games%20start%20at%204.30pm%0D%3Cbr%3E%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EUAE%20squad%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EMuhammad%20Waseem%20(captain)%2C%20Aayan%20Khan%2C%20Adithya%20Shetty%2C%20Ali%20Naseer%2C%20Ansh%20Tandon%2C%20Aryansh%20Sharma%2C%20Asif%20Khan%2C%20Basil%20Hameed%2C%20Ethan%20D%E2%80%99Souza%2C%20Fahad%20Nawaz%2C%20Jonathan%20Figy%2C%20Junaid%20Siddique%2C%20Karthik%20Meiyappan%2C%20Lovepreet%20Singh%2C%20Matiullah%2C%20Mohammed%20Faraazuddin%2C%20Muhammad%20Jawadullah%2C%20Rameez%20Shahzad%2C%20Rohan%20Mustafa%2C%20Sanchit%20Sharma%2C%20Vriitya%20Aravind%2C%20Zahoor%20Khan%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
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.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%203-litre%20V6%20turbo%20(standard%20model%2C%20E-hybrid)%3B%204-litre%20V8%20biturbo%20(S)%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20350hp%20(standard)%3B%20463hp%20(E-hybrid)%3B%20467hp%20(S)%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20500Nm%20(standard)%3B%20650Nm%20(E-hybrid)%3B%20600Nm%20(S)%0D%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh368%2C500%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
Simran
Director Hansal Mehta
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Soham Shah, Esha Tiwari Pandey
Three stars
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars
- Energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- Infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes
- Many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
