Brazil manager Tite said his team fully deserved to win Tuesday's “Super Clasico” clash against Argentina in Saudi Arabia.
The five-time world champions had to wait until injury-time to seal a 1-0 victory, though, when Miranda headed home Neymar's corner in the 93rd minute.
Chances had been few and far between at Jeddah's King Abdullah Sports City, in a match that concluded the four-team friendly tournament taking place in the kingdom this past week. Hosts Saudi Arabia and Iraq also featured.
For Brazil, the result against their main rivals represented a welcome boost following a disappointing World Cup campaign in Russia this summer, and ahead of next year’s Copa America on home soil.
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Read more:
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John McAuley: Nothing friendly about Brazil's Riyadh game against Argentina
Juan Antonio Pizzi: Saudi Arabia 'make a lot of use' of Super Clasico to prepare for Asian Cup
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"Argentina created chances to score, tried to win, but Brazil were better and the team's performance was rewarded with the goal," Tite said afterwards. “[Miranda's winner] could have been another time, but it was in the end.
"The team were concentrating. The corner was the result of a volume of play that we put in the game."
The encounter, the 105th meeting between the South American heavyweights, looked set for a stalemate until Miranda rose unmarked to head past Sergio Romero in the Argentine goal.
"I am very happy, first, to help my teammates, and to make a goal against Argentina is exciting and rewarding," said the veteran Inter Milan defender. "I dedicate the goal to those who trusted and supported my family.
"Today I met my wife 16 years ago and I'm excited. Making a goal is very difficult ... a kiss for my wife and my children; I want to celebrate the goal with them."
Argentina are looking also to rebuild after a poor World Cup, with manager Jorge Sampaoli gone and interim coach Lionel Scaloni in situ. The two-time world champions were without a number of players for Brazil, including captain Lionel Messi and striker Sergio Aguero.
“Obviously our team is better than theirs: we have maintained the same squad for years and they are in the process of renewal,” acknowledged Brazil left-back Filipe Luis. “But you don’t notice that so much in a Clasico; what you do notice is their fight. But I think we deserved to win.”
Despite the loss, Scaloni drew positives still from the match, saying: "A lot of players were in their first ‘Super Clasico’ - they will achieve great things. Doing what we did today, we will fight a war against everyone that plays us."
Both managers paid tribute to Saudi Arabia as hosts, with Tite describing the packed King Abdullah Sports City, nicknamed the “Jewel”, as “one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen”.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Read more from Johann Chacko
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