After a stunning start in which they rallied from a goal down for a 3-1 win against Qatar, the UAE have stumbled to two defeats and a draw to lag behind in their Fifa 2026 World Cup Qualifying section.
Precariously placed at just four points after four games, the national team now have an opportunity to revive their campaign when they host Kyrgyzstan at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
The central Asian side are meeting the UAE in a World Cup qualifier for the first time. They haven’t been successful in two previous meetings against the UAE, going down 1-0 in a friendly in December last year and 3-2 in the Asia Cup Round of 16 in January 2019.
However, Kyrgyzstan arrive on the back of a win against North Korea and will be keen to take that momentum forward.
UAE are six points behind both Iran and Uzbekistan in Group A and anything less than three points against Kyrgyzstan can have dire consequences for their chances of a second appearance on the global stage with only the top two sides sure of progress.
“They won the last game and they are on three points, one less than us. It's clear for us that this is a very important game,” UAE manager Paulo Bento said at his pre-match conference on Wednesday.
“We try to transmit this to the players since the beginning of our preparation for this game, and how important this is going to be. I'm confident going by the way the players have trained on these days. We have enough reasons to be confident.”
Bento revealed the difference in their preparation compared to the last camp.
“We try to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. We try to bring the right information about our opponent,” the Portuguese said.
“They used more often a tactical system with five or three at the back. We can expect a team that can play in 5-3-2 or in 5-4-1. They are a team with a simple process.
“They attack the dead space in the proper way, so we need to be aware about these aspects. And of course, we try to play as we like to play. Try to dominate the game and control the game.”
Bento said their only aim is to get as many points as possible from the remaining matches and then see where they stand in the qualifiers. Should they manage to finish third in the section they will enter a new phase of qualifying.
“To be honest, in the four games we played until now in this phase, we competed well in three of them even if the results were not so good in two of them,” he added.
“The defeats to Iran and Uzbekistan were fair but the 1-1 result against North Korea wasn’t a good game.”
Bento has a full squad at his disposal and, with a final training session, the line-up will be decided on the morning of the match.
Mohammed Al Attas, who accompanied the coach at the pre-match conference, said the players were upbeat and confident of gaining full points.
“We have prepared well and are aware of what we need to do on the pitch to win the three points. That will be our objective going into this game and improve our position,” he said.
Kyrgyzstan manager Maksim Listitsyn pointed out that playing in a World Cup qualifier is difficult for every team.
“I guess our match against the UAE will be great and we’ll show a good performance,” he said.
“Obviously, we’ll do our best to get a good result for us. Playing at this level will always bring pressure to every participating team and it’s not to be compared with how any team played the previous game and the results.
“We are realistic and understand our abilities. Of course, we feel confident. Our players are ready to play, it doesn't matter against whom and where. We are ready to take on any challenge and that’s what we are here for.”
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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