So confident were Juventus ahead of their Club World Cup opener against Al Ain, they had spent the eve of the game at the White House having an audience with President Donald Trump.
If shooting the breeze with the leader of the United States was a distraction from the matters at hand, then it did not show, as they dominated the side from the UAE.
Randal Kolo Muani, Juve’s French striker, led the way as the Italian side crushed an out-of-sorts Al Ain 5-0.
It was the sort of result that many beyond the Emirates might have expected. But the club from the Garden City – who had reached the final of the previous guise of the Club World Cup back in 2018 – had expected much better.
Al Ain had talked about competing with the best ahead of the tournament. They cited the fact they had beaten Juventus once before, and an even more starry line up than the current side.
In 2003 they had won a mid-season friendly against a Juve side that included players like Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro Del Piero, Edgar Davids and Pavel Nedved.
They might also have been cheered by a result from earlier in the day that struck a blow for Middle East football. Al Hilal had held mighty Real Madrid to a draw in their opening game.
Al Ain had beaten Al Hilal on their way to qualification for the Club World Cup, knocking them out at the semi-final stage of the 2024 AFC Champions League.
But when it came to it, they were entirely lacklustre. They were 4-0 down by half time and it looked alarmingly as though they might suffer the same fate as the part-timers from Auckland City, who shipped double figures against Bayern Munich in their opener.
Al Ain had made five changes from the final game of their Pro League campaign, which was a 2-0 win against Al Nasr in Dubai nearly a month ago.
Although they had a lengthy lead in from then till the start of the tournament, their prep was disjointed. Three of their key players had arrived late in America, having been on international duty with the UAE.
Only one of them – centre back Kouame Autonne – made the starting XI. Khalid Essa, the club captain, and Yahia Nader, the influential midfield metronome, were both conspicuous by their absence.
Essa has been a mainstay in goal for over a decade for club and country, so it was jarring to see Rui Patricio in his place between the posts.
Patricio has had a long and auspicious career with clubs like Sporting Lisbon, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Roma, as well as over 100 caps for Portugal.
But his short-term switch to Al Ain for the Club World Cup is the sort of deal which critics argue undermines the competition.
He might have international renown, but Essa is part of the fabric of Al Ain. As a side note on the same issue, there were no Emirati players in the starting XI.
And in sporting terms, Patricio might as well not have been there for all the impact he made.
Playing in the sky blue more readily associated with Al Ain’s next opponents, Manchester City, rather than their trademark black and white stripes, Juventus were a class above from the start.
Kolo Muani started the scoring in the 11th minute and added a second in stoppage time at the end of the first half. He was denied the chance of a hat-trick when he was withdrawn to make way for Dusan Vlahovic in the second half.
Francisco Conceicao also scored two, while Kenan Yildiz, the Turkish playmaker, also got a goal his performance deserved.
No Shame
Lily Allen
(Parlophone)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Miss Granny
Director: Joyce Bernal
Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa
3/5
(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)
Fighting with My Family
Director: Stephen Merchant
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Nick Frost, Lena Headey, Florence Pugh, Thomas Whilley, Tori Ellen Ross, Jack Lowden, Olivia Bernstone, Elroy Powell
Four stars
Results:
5pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic (PA) Prestige Dh 110,000 1.400m | Winner: AF Mouthirah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic (PA) Prestige Dh 110,000 1,400m | Winner: AF Saab, Antonio Fresu, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 1,600m | Winner: Majd Al Gharbia, Saif Al Balushi, Ridha ben Attia
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship (PA) Listed Dh 180,000 1,600m | Winner: RB Money To Burn, Pat Cosgrave, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap Dh 70,000 2,200m | Winner: AF Kafu, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 100,000 2,400m | Winner: Brass Ring, Fabrice Veron, Ismail Mohammed
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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'Falling%20for%20Christmas'
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Meydan card
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (PA) Group 1 US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.05pm: Conditions (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas Trial (TB) $100,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 1,200m
8.50pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) Group 2 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,900m
10pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
