PARIS // France coach Didier Deschamps admitted that leading his side to the World Cup finals in dramatic fashion in their play-off against Ukraine on Tuesday ranked as one of his finest achievements in football.
Les Bleus defied expectations to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit and advance to next year’s finals in Brazil with a remarkable performance at the Stade de France, triumphing 3-0 on the night.
It was the first time that any nation had recovered from a two-goal first-leg loss in a European play-off to qualify for the World Cup, as Mamadou Sakho and Karim Benzema hit the target before Oleg Gusev’s 72nd-minute own-goal decided the tie, and Deschamps was keen to savour the moment.
“I have lived through some great moments in my long career,” said the 45-year-old, who skippered France to victory in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 during his playing days, while also captaining the Marseille side that won the 1993 Champions League.
“To take France to a World Cup is fabulous, especially after the first leg, where the result was not favourable.”
Deschamps was thrown into the air by his players in the centre-circle of the Stade de France at the end of the game, bringing back memories of the 1998 World Cup final, but he was determined that all the credit for the result should go to his team.
“We had to turn it around and the merit goes to the players evidently because what they did was great,” he went on. “I told them beforehand that we needed two great games. We failed in the first one but the second one was tremendous.
“We have achieved our objective so I am extremely satisfied for the players, my staff and for all of French football too. The presence of France in Brazil was very important.”
There had been widespread speculation that Deschamps would step down if his side became the first French team in two decades to miss out on qualifying for a major tournament, but instead the victory was followed by an announcement that he would be extending his contract through to 2016, when France will host the European Championship.
Deschamps refused to discuss his side’s prospects at the World Cup in any depth, but he did accept that going to Brazil will serve as an important experience for the young players in his side ahead of the Euros.
“You don’t go to a World Cup just to take part, but it will also help us prepare for Euro 2016,” he added. “For the moment we are there and that is the most important thing.”
Meanwhile, goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris also praised the manner in which the French side bounced back from a disastrous performance in Kiev on Friday which had left them staring at an agonising World Cup exit.
“After the first leg, everyone still believed. We were well beaten there but we bounced back and played like real men,” said the Tottenham Hotspur ‘keeper, who had few saves to make in a match dominated by the home side.
“This was a historic night but now we have a World Cup to come and we need to make sure we perform well there.”
For the beaten Ukraine coach Mikhail Fomenko, the sensation was a very different one. His side saw their 12-game unbeaten run ended at the worst possible moment, although he was applauded by the Ukrainian media at his post-match press conference as he stated his intention to continue in the role.
“I am really sorry for the result but the fact we got this far is already something positive,” said Fomenko, who took over at the end of last year.
“I can’t say (France’s performance) was a surprise for me because I know they are very strong and a top-level side. They wanted to satisfy their fans so they gave that little bit extra.”
The European play-offs were rounded out by Croatia holding off feisty Iceland with a 2-0 victory. Mario Mandzukic scored in the 27th minute before being sent off 11 minutes later and Darijo Srna sealed it with a second strike for the Croatians just as the second half began.
Greece, holding a 3-1 advantage over Romania after their first leg in Athens, cruised to a 1-1 draw to seal a 4-1 aggregate victory and passage into the World Cup, as well.
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
INDIA SQUAD
Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Vijay Shankar, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
The years Ramadan fell in May
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Citizenship-by-investment programmes
United Kingdom
The UK offers three programmes for residency. The UK Overseas Business Representative Visa lets you open an overseas branch office of your existing company in the country at no extra investment. For the UK Tier 1 Innovator Visa, you are required to invest £50,000 (Dh238,000) into a business. You can also get a UK Tier 1 Investor Visa if you invest £2 million, £5m or £10m (the higher the investment, the sooner you obtain your permanent residency).
All UK residency visas get approved in 90 to 120 days and are valid for 3 years. After 3 years, the applicant can apply for extension of another 2 years. Once they have lived in the UK for a minimum of 6 months every year, they are eligible to apply for permanent residency (called Indefinite Leave to Remain). After one year of ILR, the applicant can apply for UK passport.
The Caribbean
Depending on the country, the investment amount starts from $100,000 (Dh367,250) and can go up to $400,000 in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take between four to five months to receive a passport.
Portugal
The investment amount ranges from €350,000 to €500,000 (Dh1.5m to Dh2.16m) in real estate. From the date of purchase, it will take a maximum of six months to receive a Golden Visa. Applicants can apply for permanent residency after five years and Portuguese citizenship after six years.
“Among European countries with residency programmes, Portugal has been the most popular because it offers the most cost-effective programme to eventually acquire citizenship of the European Union without ever residing in Portugal,” states Veronica Cotdemiey of Citizenship Invest.
Greece
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Greece is €250,000, making it the cheapest real estate residency visa scheme in Europe. You can apply for residency in four months and citizenship after seven years.
Spain
The real estate investment threshold to acquire residency for Spain is €500,000. You can apply for permanent residency after five years and citizenship after 10 years. It is not necessary to live in Spain to retain and renew the residency visa permit.
Cyprus
Cyprus offers the quickest route to citizenship of a European country in only six months. An investment of €2m in real estate is required, making it the highest priced programme in Europe.
Malta
The Malta citizenship by investment programme is lengthy and investors are required to contribute sums as donations to the Maltese government. The applicant must either contribute at least €650,000 to the National Development & Social Fund. Spouses and children are required to contribute €25,000; unmarried children between 18 and 25 and dependent parents must contribute €50,000 each.
The second step is to make an investment in property of at least €350,000 or enter a property rental contract for at least €16,000 per annum for five years. The third step is to invest at least €150,000 in bonds or shares approved by the Maltese government to be kept for at least five years.
Candidates must commit to a minimum physical presence in Malta before citizenship is granted. While you get residency in two months, you can apply for citizenship after a year.
Egypt
A one-year residency permit can be bought if you purchase property in Egypt worth $100,000. A three-year residency is available for those who invest $200,000 in property, and five years for those who purchase property worth $400,000.
Source: Citizenship Invest and Aqua Properties
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
The story in numbers
18
This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens
450,000
More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps
1.5 million
There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m
73
The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association
18,000
The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme
77,400
The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study
4,926
This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
- Camden, London
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Islington, London
- Kensington and Chelsea, London
- Highlands, Scotland
- Argyll and Bute, Scotland
- Fife, Scotland
- Tower Hamlets, London
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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