A former manager of Italy, Antonio Conte, was complaining long and loud about the players at his disposal last weekend.
Those gripes have set Conte on a fast-track to departure from Tottenham Hotspur, whose first-teamers he offended, and, quite likely, on a path home to Italy for his next club job.
There, he might find in the quality of native goalscorers something to criticise, too. The coach who now occupies Conte’s former role in charge of the national squad, Roberto Mancini, would have been forgiven for smiling on hearing him bemoan his playing staff at Spurs.
What would Mancini give for a centre-forward like Tottenham’s Harry Kane, who will be leading England’s forward line against Italy on Thursday evening? It’s the standout fixture as the qualifying process for next summer’s European Championship begins, a re-run of the final of the last Euros, which Italy won, on penalties at Wembley.
Both nations have been through ups and downs since. Kane has become his country’s joint all-time record goalscorer but also suffered the heartbreak of missing a penalty in a World Cup quarter-final against France that, had he converted, might have preserved his and his country’s dream of taking their incremental successes of the last five years – a World Cup semi in 2018; a Euros silver medal three summers later – a step higher.
Italy, meanwhile, contrived to follow up Mancini’s stellar achievement in triumphing at those Euros with a humiliation. They failed to reach the World Cup in Qatar at all, eliminated in the semi-final of the play-offs thanks to a 1-0 home loss to North Macedonia. A late goal on the counter-attack shocked the Italians, who had dominated possession but lacked precision or ruthlessness in their finishing.
England train for Italy clash - in pictures
It is a recurring issue. Italy have nobody like Kane, no world-class penalty-box predator with an equal talent for unlocking opposition defences with his passing from deeper positions. They have eager and rugged enough No 9s in Lazio’s Ciro Immobile, 33 and reliably effective in Serie A, and Roma’s 29-year-old Andrea Belotti, but they can call on neither of them this evening in Naples.
Those absences, and the so-far unsuccessful search for a central striker who might serve Italy for years to come, worry Mancini.
“We have serious problems up front,” he said, listing the injury problems that keep Immobile, Bellotti and 23-year-old Napoli striker Giacomo Raspadori from his squad.
He also referenced the limited time on the pitch Gianluca Scamacca has been given at West Ham United who the striker, 24, joined last summer, and for whom he scored the most recent of his three Premier League goals back in early January.
In pursuit of solutions, Mancini has spread his net wide. Selected in the squad for the England match and Sunday’s fixture against Malta is 17-year-old Simone Pafundi, of Udinese, whose career total of Serie A minutes, across three appearances off the bench, amounts to just over half-an-hour’s action.
Mancini, though, sees something in Pafundi. He capped him, as a substitute, in a friendly last November.
What Mancini does not see in Pafundi, a diminutive, skilful footballer ideally played off a centre-forward, is a target man. Auditioning for that role over this international week is a striker reeled in to the Azzurri set-up from afar.
Mateo Retegui was born in Argentina, has only ever played professionally in Argentinian domestic football but qualifies for Italian citizenship through a maternal grandparent. He is 23, and despite his 29 goals in 51 matches for mid-table Buenos Aires club Tigre, has never been capped at senior level by Argentina.
Mancini approached Retegui and admits he was surprised when the forward said he would be prepared to commit to Italy and rule out a future playing for Argentina.
That’s not least because Retegui comes from a famous Argentinian sporting family. His sister won a silver medal at hockey at the Tokyo Olympics for their country of birth. Mateo’s father Carlos coached that hockey team, as he did Argentina’s men’s hockey gold medallists at the Rio de Janeiro Games.
If Retegui feels like an outsider, joining up with the European champions – and effectively rejecting the reigning world champions, Argentina – it may not last for too long. He may soon feel very at home in Italy. Both Inter Milan and AC Milan are interested in signing Retegui, who is on loan at Tigre from Boca Juniors.
Lionel Scaloni, Argentina’s manager, predicts Retegui “will do well for Italy,” even though Scaloni had passed on the idea of picking him for Argentina.
“We have a lot of players we value very highly in the position,” said Scaloni, thinking of Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez, among others who in December had the privilege of winning the World Cup alongside Lionel Messi.
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Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
THE BIO
Ambition: To create awareness among young about people with disabilities and make the world a more inclusive place
Job Title: Human resources administrator, Expo 2020 Dubai
First jobs: Co-ordinator with Magrudy Enterprises; HR coordinator at Jumeirah Group
Entrepreneur: Started his own graphic design business
Favourite singer: Avril Lavigne
Favourite travel destination: Germany and Saudi Arabia
Family: Six sisters
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Brief scores:
Manchester United 4
Young 13', Mata 28', Lukaku 42', Rashford 82'
Fulham 1
Kamara 67' (pen),
Red card: Anguissa (68')
Man of the match: Juan Mata (Man Utd)
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Four reasons global stock markets are falling right now
There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
1. Rising US interest rates
The US Federal Reserve has increased interest rates three times this year in a bid to prevent its buoyant economy from overheating. They now stand at between 2 and 2.25 per cent and markets are pencilling in three more rises next year.
Kim Catechis, manager of the Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund, says US inflation is rising and the Fed will continue to raise rates in 2019. “With inflationary pressures growing, an increasing number of corporates are guiding profitability expectations downwards for 2018 and 2019, citing the negative impact of rising costs.”
At the same time as rates are rising, central bankers in the US and Europe have been ending quantitative easing, bringing the era of cheap money to an end.
2. Stronger dollar
High US rates have driven up the value of the dollar and bond yields, and this is putting pressure on emerging market countries that took advantage of low interest rates to run up trillions in dollar-denominated debt. They have also suffered capital outflows as international investors have switched to the US, driving markets lower. Omar Negyal, portfolio manager of the JP Morgan Global Emerging Markets Income Trust, says this looks like a buying opportunity. “Despite short-term volatility we remain positive about long-term prospects and profitability for emerging markets.”
3. Global trade war
Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
4. Eurozone uncertainty
Europe faces two challenges right now in the shape of Brexit and the new populist government in eurozone member Italy.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, which has offices in Dubai, says the stand-off between between Rome and Brussels threatens to become much more serious. "As with Brexit, neither side appears willing to step back from the edge, threatening more trouble down the line.”
The European economy may also be slowing, Mr Beauchamp warns. “A four-year low in eurozone manufacturing confidence highlights the fact that producers see a bumpy road ahead, with US-EU trade talks remaining a major question-mark for exporters.”
SPEC%20SHEET
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Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey
Avedis Hadjian, (IB Tauris)
