Sport

New Zealand do not fear anyone, insists coach

Ricki Herbert leads side into their opening Group F match against Slovakia with confidence and hoping to erase painful memories of the 1982 tournament in Spain.

  • English
  • Arabic

RUSTENBURG // Ricki Herbert leads his New Zealand side into their opening Group F match against Slovakia today filled with confidence and hoping to erase painful memories of the 1982 tournament in Spain. As a 21-year-old defender in New Zealand's only previous World Cup appearance, he burst into tears on the bus en route to their opener when he was left out of the side to face Scotland.

It was the biggest disappointment of his playing career and a spur to him now as the coach to inspire his players to belie a world ranking of 78 by upsetting Slovakia, ranked 38. "I understand why we are the underdogs but we don't fear anyone," he said. "Anything can happen in a cup competition. If Senegal can beat France [in 2002], we can beat Italy!" Herbert's confidence may be one of New Zealand's best weapons as he tries to inspire a team, well beaten three times in South Africa during last year's Confederations Cup, to rise to their biggest challenge in three decades.

Their mixed form in warm-up games - beating Serbia and then losing to Chile - has given little indication of what to expect against an equally unsung Slovakia, making their first appearance in the finals as an independent nation. The Slovaks proved their potential when they beat the Czech Republic 2-1 away in the qualifiers. Stanislav Sestak, who scored in both games against their local rivals, is a striker who gives them a cutting edge.

Vladimir Weiss, the Slovakia coach, shares Herbert's rare distinction of playing and coaching at the World Cup, having appeared in midfield for the Czechoslovakia team that reached the quarter-finals in Italy in 1990. He is also hoping his team can be one of the surprise packages of the tournament. Weiss and his men recognise that today's clash will be key in a group that also includes Italy, the world champions, and Paraguay.

Jan Mucha, the goalkeeper who was outstanding in the qualifiers, said: "We are a new team, we want to surprise everyone." Marek Hamsik, the midfielder and captain, added: "The most important match is against New Zealand, the first. They are strong - we saw that in their warm-up against Serbia." Ryan Nelson, the New Zealand captain, missed that game with an infection but returns against Slovakia. But Tim Brown, the vice-captain, has lost a race to be fit to face Slovakia, but should be ready for the next two Group F games, Herbert said yesterday.

Midfielder Brown only arrived in South Africa last week after surgery to fix a shoulder broken in the warm-up against Australia and was always doubtful for today's match. "(Brown) came up a fraction short but hopefully he will be fit for the Italy and Paraguay games," Herbert told reporters in Rustenburg ahead of the opener against Slovakia. Martin Skrtel, Slovakia's experienced defender, and Miroslav Stoch, a 20-year-old midfielder, will be fit for Weiss's expected 4-4-2 line-up after recovering from injuries.

* Reuters

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.”

Abramovich London

A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.

A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.

Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.

Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.

The biog

Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.

It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.

They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.

FootballSPORTADMWorld Cup 2010