Sport

Mexico capital erupts in ecstasy after Vela heroics

Mexico City was alive with song on Sunday as ecstatic football fans vocalised their joy, following a 5-0 trouncing of the United States in the Gold Cup final.

Zoë Griffiths

July 28, 2009

Mexico City was alive with song on Sunday as ecstatic football fans vocalised their joy, following a 5-0 trouncing of the United States in the Gold Cup final. Red, white and green Mexican flags lit up the streets of the vibrant city, as jubilant supporters gathered in front of the Independence Monument - known as "The Angel" - to celebrate the Mexico team's success in festive fashion.

Arsenal's Carlos Vela was the star of the show, putting in a pivotal performance to help Mexico claim their eighth Concacaf Gold Cup. Coming off the bench at the start of the second half, the 20-year-old helped transform what had been a tight, nervy game into a lesson in skill for the US. Both sides had found the goal out of reach in the first half. Mexico captain, Gerardo Torrado changed the face of the game 11 minutes after the break, firing his side into the lead from the spot after a poor tackle from Jay Heaps brought down Giovani Dos Santos inside the area.

The 1-0 lead boosted Mexico's spirits as they picked up the pace, sending wave after wave of attacks at the Confederation Cup winners. Mexico doubled their lead in the 62nd minute when a spurt from Vela down the left flank helped him pick out the tournament's lead goalscorer, Miguel Sabah. Sabah saw his shot saved, but the rebound fell to Dos Santos who slotted the ball away with ease from close range.

Vela made his presence felt five minutes later, connecting with a Dos Santos pass in front of the penalty area. The 20-year-old player fired the ball into the bottom right corner to chalk his name on the scoresheet. The striker turned provider again in the 79th minute, tearing the USA defence apart to slot a perfectly weighted ball through to Jose Castro for a simple finish. Mexico were not ready to ease off as Fausto Pinto found Guillermo Franco who answered by slotted the ball into the bottom left corner from just outside the penalty area for Mexico's fifth of the night.

zgriffiths@thenational.ae

On Women's Day
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh132,000 (Countryman)
While you're here
More from Neighbourhood Watch:

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.”