Al Ain defender Kouame Autonne put his side’s progress to the Asian Champions League final down to their “family” ethic, saying the UAE club will work tirelessly to come back even stronger to clinch the trophy.
Al Ain, continental champions in 2003, came through a dramatic semi-final against record four-time winners Al Hilal, advancing to the title match 5-4 on aggregate despite a 2-1 defeat in the second leg in Riyadh on Tuesday night.
Hernan Crespo’s side, 4-2 winners on home soil last week, had to be at their resilient best to go through, with Hilal pinning them back for much of the second half at a packed and partisan Kingdom Arena.
In ultimately limiting Hilal to two goals, Al Ain booked a place in the final for the fourth time in their history, after appearances in 2003, 2005 and 2016.
Speaking to The National in the Saudi capital as the result was still sinking in, centre-back Autonne struggled to sum up his emotions, having played an integral role in Al Ain’s success.
“Right now, I feel very, very happy because I’m in the final,” he said. “It was a difficult game, a great game against Al Hilal, who are a very, very big team.
“I want to say thank you to the fans who came to see us. Because of them we pushed on the pitch, and everybody sees that in the result. Just a big thank you to them.
“You saw in the stadium, so many fans from Al Hilal, and if our support didn’t push us, we don’t get this power to fight until the end. We needed this on the pitch.”
Autonne, who signed for Al Ain in 2021 from Khorfakkan, was one of many Al Ain players who performed superbly on the night – even after he conceded a first-minute penalty that Ruben Neves then dispatched to hand Hilal the perfect start.
“There is no secret, it’s the team,” Autonne said. “All of us are fighting 100 per cent on the pitch. There is no best player or not. We are all on the same level and we fight, like a family. We take all the games seriously, like always.
“I hope and I want to give more to the club, because they trusted in me when I was in a small team, so I can give only 100 per cent of my strength to them for the final.”
Al Ain will face off against Yokohama F Marinos for the title next month after the Japanese club triumphed in their semi-final against South Korea's Ulsan HD on penalties on Wednesday. Ulsan had won last week's first leg 1-0 but lost the reverse fixture in Yokohama 3-2 to force the shootout.
Yokohama prevailed 5-4 in the shootout to set up the final against Al Ain, with the first leg in Japan on May 11 before the return match in Al Ain one week later.
“The semi-final is finished already,” Autonne said. “Now we must focus on the final and be ready, because I know it will be a difficult game again.
“So we’re going to train seriously and come back even stronger.”
Autonne’s teammate Kaku was another key contributor in Al Ain’s journey to the final. The Paraguayan, a summer signing from Saudi side Al Taawoun, scored in the semi-final first leg in the Garden City and, in the return, worked tirelessly for Al Ain to secure one of the most memorable moments in their history.
“I’m very happy to qualify for the final,” Kaku told The National. "It’s one more step. Now we need to rest - but after that we need to prepare for the final.
“We fight [for everything]. I know Al Hilal bring top players from Europe, but we play with heart in all the game, and this was the key to qualify for the final.”
Like Autonne, Kaku praised the small but vocal Al Ain support present at the Kingdom Arena on Tuesday night.
“Both teams are top, top teams in Asia, and I want to say thank you to both teams’ fans: Hilal fans for the respect and the Ainawi [Al Ain supporters] for coming here and supporting the team.
“I receive many messages [on social media saying], 'I want to take the Asian Cup'. But, for now, we have to rest and recover well."
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Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
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This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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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