Ian Hawkey
Defeats in their past two matches is hardly the build-up Atletico Madrid would have sought ahead of the first major capital derby of the Primera Liga season, on Sunday.
"Now this will be Atletico's game of the year," said Alvaro Arbeloa, the Real Madrid defender, a little provocatively, implying that local boasting rights might be all Atletico can aspire to, after a setback in Europe, a home defeat against Benfica on Wednesday, immediately after having lost to Villarreal, who took up the summit of the league table on the back of that result.
Yet if there is a team Real Madrid should fear, it is Atletico, who have produced, at least in domestic competitions, some of their most memorable performances of the past three or four years against their fiercest rivals, their least-favourite neighbours. Last season they routed Real 4-0 at the Vicente Calderon.
Few coaches this century have cultivated the guerrilla spirit Atleti like to identify as characteristic of the club as consciously as does Diego Simeone, who guided them to the historic 2014 league title.
Simeone is a pragmatic sort, a tactician unashamed to prioritise effectiveness over elegance, but at the same time he is an appreciator of qualities well beyond the strategic.
He once played for Atletico, and vividly works up fans from his technical area, arms waving, to exploit his strong sense of community with the club’s followers.
He knows there are some among them who have a notoriety, and the defeat to Benfica reminded him of that. A Uefa punishment will likely be levelled against the club after the flares that were thrown from the grandstands of the Calderon on Wednesday.
Among Simeone’s selection dilemmas ahead of the derby are choices about whether to include, or leave out, players who have the Atletico gene.
Koke, his best passer and creator in midfield, and a graduate of Atleti’s youth system, is labouring with injury, while his expensive new centre-forward, Jackson Martinez, who joined in the summer from Porto, has laboured in front of goal lately.
Simeone’s alternatives? Two men named Torres, a pair of footballers imbued with Atletico’s DNA.
Oliver Torres, the gifted attacking midfielder, has earned the trust of his coach this season, and been told that 2015/16 can be his breakthrough campaign.
Oliver, as he usually is known, largely to distinguish him from the more celebrated Torres in the squad, Fernando, spent last season on loan at Porto, where he made a strong impression in Europe and domestically. Simeone observed his development there, his unusual poise and confidence on the ball, with satisfaction.
Oliver turns 21 next month. He is short and slight but has a neat touch. Simeone harbours some doubts about his energy over 90 minutes in an Atletico side who try to press hard and expect to spend periods of matches without possession of the ball, but he has seen enough of the young man’s grit and gifts to identify him as a key figure for the current season.
Fernando Torres, meanwhile, has in nine months laid the foundations for a career renaissance. The 31-year-old striker was once regarded among the very finest scorers anywhere; his trials, after leaving Liverpool, who signed him from Atletico in 2007, to join Chelsea are well documented.
His wretched six months at AC Milan in the first half of last season were almost worse and seemed to confirm his zip and zest of old had vanished for good.
But since his January return to Atletico, the club he had captained in his early 20s, some of his old magic has returned.
Simeone brought him back partly because he is an Atletico man, born and bred, knows the ethos of the club, and needs no telling how important the capital derby is.
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Total funding: Self funded
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Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Try out the test yourself
Q1 Suppose you had $100 in a savings account and the interest rate was 2 per cent per year. After five years, how much do you think you would have in the account if you left the money to grow?
a) More than $102
b) Exactly $102
c) Less than $102
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q2 Imagine that the interest rate on your savings account was 1 per cent per year and inflation was 2 per cent per year. After one year, how much would you be able to buy with the money in this account?
a) More than today
b) Exactly the same as today
c) Less than today
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
Q4 Do you think that the following statement is true or false? “Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.”
a) True
b) False
d) Do not know
e) Refuse to answer
The “Big Three” financial literacy questions were created by Professors Annamaria Lusardi of the George Washington School of Business and Olivia Mitchell, of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Answers: Q1 More than $102 (compound interest). Q2 Less than today (inflation). Q3 False (diversification).
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Points Classification
1. Marcel Kittel (Germany / Quick-Step) 63
2. Arnaud Demare (France / FDJ) 38
3. Andre Greipel (Germany / Lotto) 25
4. Sonny Colbrelli (Italy / Bahrain) 24
5. Mark Cavendish (Britain / Dimension Data) 22
6. Taylor Phinney (U.S. / Cannondale) 21
7. Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky) 20
8. Thomas Boudat (France / Direct Energie) 20
9. Stefan Kueng (Switzerland / BMC Racing) 17
10. Michael Matthews (Australia / Sunweb) 17
OTHER IPL BOWLING RECORDS
Best bowling figures: 6-14 – Sohail Tanvir (for Rajasthan Royals against Chennai Super Kings in 2008)
Best average: 16.36 – Andrew Tye
Best economy rate: 6.53 – Sunil Narine
Best strike-rate: 12.83 – Andrew Tye
Best strike-rate in an innings: 1.50 – Suresh Raina (for Chennai Super Kings against Rajasthan Royals in 2011)
Most runs conceded in an innings: 70 – Basil Thampi (for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2018)
Most hat-tricks: 3 – Amit Mishra
Most dot-balls: 1,128 – Harbhajan Singh
Most maiden overs bowled: 14 – Praveen Kumar
Most four-wicket hauls: 6 – Sunil Narine
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
TCL INFO
Teams:
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
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Engine: 4 liquid-cooled permanent magnet synchronous electric motors placed at each wheel
Battery: Rimac 120kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry
Power: 1877bhp
Torque: 2300Nm
Price: Dh7,500,00
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The specs
Engine: 3.6 V6
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Power: 295bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: Dh155,000
On sale: now
The Specs:
The Specs:
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Power: 444bhp
Torque: 600Nm
Price: AED 356,580 incl VAT
On sale: now.
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How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
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Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The five pillars of Islam
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani