Iceland came from a goal down to defeat Israel 4-1 on Thursday and move on to the final round of the 2024 European Championships play-offs where they will meet Ukraine for a place in the tournament.
Due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Israel's tie was switched to Budapest and their hopes of making the finals of any major competition for the first time since the 1970 World Cup enjoyed a confident start.
On the half-hour mark, Daniel Leo Gretarsson was punished for bringing down Eran Zahavi. The veteran Israeli striker picked himself up to steer his penalty past Hakon Valdimarsson in the Iceland goal.
The lead lasted less than 10 minutes, though, when Genoa's Albert Gudmundsson curled in a free-kick to equalise.
Just three minutes before half-time Iceland, who made the quarter-finals at the 2016 Euros, were ahead. Gudmundsson swept over a corner and midfielder Arnor Ingvi Traustason was on hand to lash the ball home off a deflection which wrong-footed Israel goalkeeper Omri Glazer.
Israel's Roy Revivo was sent off in the 73rd minute but his team were then handed a golden chance to equalise when Gudmundur Thorarinsson was penalised for handball. However, this time Zahavi dragged his penalty wide and Iceland soon made him pay.
In the 83rd minute, Gudmundsson grabbed his second of the night after a surging run and then completed his hat-trick as the clock ran down.
"It's very disappointing. We were one goal ahead and then we conceded two easy goals before half-time," said Glazer.
"It's never easy when it's 11 against 10, and sometimes you miss a penalty, it's part of football. Then we gambled more. We lost, and we need to look in the mirror at what we did well, and what not so well."
Iceland will now face Ukraine on Tuesday with the winner claiming a spot in this summer's finals in Germany.
"We were lacking goals earlier in qualification last year, and now we have Albert Gudmundsson back, and he showed that he's a class player," said Iceland coach Age Hareide, who shared his reservations pre-match about facing Israel amid the ongoing war.
Ukraine beat Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ukraine's hopes of making it to successive Euros were kept alive after a dramatic and very late come-from-behind 2-1 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Zenica.
Defender Amar Dedic unleashed a powerful drive just before the hour mark with the ball deflected into his own goal by the unfortunate Mykola Matviyenko to give Bosnia the lead.
However, two goals inside four minutes in the dying exchanges gave Ukraine victory.
In the 85th minute substitute Roman Yaremchuk scored from a fine cross by Yukhym Konoplia to level the tie.
Artem Dovbyk, whose goals have driven Girona closer to a Champions League place in Spain, headed Ukraine's winner with two minutes left.
"Our players wanted to win and attacked as much as they could," said Ukraine coach Serhiy Rebrov.
Wales power past Finland
Wales will face Poland for a place in the finals after powering to a 4-1 win against Finland in Cardiff.
Rob Page's side stormed into a two-goal lead thanks to strikes from David Brooks and Neco Williams.
Teemu Pukki reduced the deficit just before the break, but Brennan Johnson and Daniel James netted in the second half to keep Wales' dreams alive.
Bidding to reach a third consecutive European Championship, Wales will take on Poland in the play-off final in Cardiff on Tuesday.
Poland, bidding to play in a fourth successive Euros, crushed Estonia 5-1 with goals from Przemyslaw Frankowski, Piotr Zielinski, Jakub Piotrowski, Nicola Zalewski and Sebastian Szymanski.
Estonia had to play with 10 men for more than an hour after Maksim Paskotsi was red-carded for a foul on Zalewski.
Georgia, looking to make the finals of a major tournament for the first time, defeated Luxembourg 2-0 in Tbilisi.
Both goals came from Budu Zivzivadze who also hit the woodwork. Georgia were without Napoli star striker Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who was suspended.
They will face 2004 champions Greece next Tuesday for a place in the Germany showpiece.
The Greeks were far too strong for Kazakhstan in Athens, winning 5-0 with four of the goals coming in the opening 40 minutes for Gus Poyet's team.
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Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
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Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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2252 – Dh 50
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TICKETS
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
MATCH DETAILS
Juventus 2 (Bonucci 36, Ronaldo 90 6)
Genoa 1 (Kouame 40)
More on Quran memorisation:
THREE
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
ARSENAL IN 1977
Feb 05 Arsenal 0-0 Sunderland
Feb 12 Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal
Feb 15 Middlesbrough 3-0 Arsenal
Feb 19 Arsenal 2-3 West Ham
Feb 26 Middlesbrough 4-1 Arsenal (FA Cup)
Mar 01 Everton 2-1 Arsenal
Mar 05 Arsenal 1-4 ipswich
March 08 Arsenal 1-2 West Brom
Mar 12 QPR 2-1 Arsenal
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Apr 02 Arsenal 3-0 Leicester
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.”
The specs: 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
Price, base / as tested: Dh101,140 / Dh113,800
Engine: Turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder
Power: 148hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 250Nm @ 2,000rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed CVT
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.0L / 100km
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Dr Amal Khalid Alias revealed a recent case of a woman with daughters, who specifically wanted a boy.
A semen analysis of the father showed abnormal sperm so the couple required IVF.
Out of 21 eggs collected, six were unused leaving 15 suitable for IVF.
A specific procedure was used, called intracytoplasmic sperm injection where a single sperm cell is inserted into the egg.
On day three of the process, 14 embryos were biopsied for gender selection.
The next day, a pre-implantation genetic report revealed four normal male embryos, three female and seven abnormal samples.
Day five of the treatment saw two male embryos transferred to the patient.
The woman recorded a positive pregnancy test two weeks later.
Profile Periscope Media
Founder: Smeetha Ghosh, one co-founder (anonymous)
Launch year: 2020
Employees: four – plans to add another 10 by July 2021
Financing stage: $250,000 bootstrap funding, approaching VC firms this year
Investors: Co-founders
SPEC SHEET
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Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
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The specs
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UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Key features of new policy
Pupils to learn coding and other vocational skills from Grade 6
Exams to test critical thinking and application of knowledge
A new National Assessment Centre, PARAKH (Performance, Assessment, Review and Analysis for Holistic Development) will form the standard for schools
Schools to implement online system to encouraging transparency and accountability
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
Zayed Sustainability Prize
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
