Ahead of the 2016 Copa America, which starts on Friday in the United States, Jonathan Raymond examines some of the biggest names who won’t be making an impact:
Neymar, Brazil
The Barcelona star is the highest-profile in a handful of big-name Brazilians who are out of this one. He has opted to spearhead the attack for his country at the Olympics they are hosting in August, understandably, leaving Dunga’s options up front rather threadbare. Hulk is here, again, but perhaps Neymar’s absence most interestingly will open up a place for the kid some are calling the next Neymar, 19-year-old Santos striker Gabriel Barbosa.
Javier Pastore, Argentina
The 26-year-old Paris Saint-Germain midfielder is out with injury, adding to a disappointing stretch of health that saw him play just 16 Ligue 1 matches for the French champions this season. A shame, especially, after he had appeared to be growing into his playmaking best a year ago, when he racked up 12 assists for PSG in 34 league appearances.
Paulo Dybala, Argentina
The all-action 22-year-old Juventus striker had a breakout seasons of sorts, with 19 Serie A goals for the Italian champions after coming over from Palermo. He was somewhat inexplicably denied by Argentina coach Gerard Martino, but it may have made more sense when he was named to the country’s Olympics preliminary players list.
Douglas Costa, Brazil
The winger was one of the breakout stars around the world this season, blazing down touchlines for Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich and forming maybe the fastest wing pairing in the world with French teammate Kingsley Coman. Injury, unfortunately, keeps him out of this tournament. Didn’t get a real chance at last year’s Copa America, either.
Thiago Silva, Brazil
Was kind of unfairly scapegoated in many respects as the captain of Brazil’s disastrous 2014 World Cup run. He had held a creaky defence together until his injury (as evidenced by the 7-1 thrashing they took from Germany without him) and they will be worse without the 31-year-old at this Copa America, too.
Jorge Valdivia, Chile
The mercurial 32-year-old midfielder with a magic touch was one of the key ingredients in his country’s win on home soil last year, but his attitude issues and an inconsistent season this year with Al Wahda here in the UAE probably left new Chile coach Juan Antonio Pizzi with the feeling that he was more trouble than he is worth.
Keylor Navas, Costa Rica
One of the key figures in Costa Rica’s remarkable World Cup quarter-final march two years ago, the Real Madrid keeper will not have a chance to spark his side on another surprise run after sustaining an injury.
Marcelo, Brazil
A delightfully talented player and a rightful club legend at Real Madrid, Marcelo's penchant for bombing forward along the wings nonetheless has never quite worked internationally, and he was one of the main culprits in that infamous Mineirazo loss. Missed out last year too with injury.
Jackson Martinez, Colombia
Life comes at you fast, huh? A year ago he was coming off another successful season at FC Porto and headed to greater fame and fortune at Atletico Madrid, who had paid a fine price for him. Then he couldn’t score, then Atletico sold him to China’s Guangzhou Evergrande, and now Colombia coach Jose Pekerman has decided he is expendable too.
David Luiz, Brazil
He, like Marcelo, has managed to have a productive and entertaining club career as his international usefulness has been, well, questionable at best. Was perhaps Brazil’s worst defender in that 7-1 shaming, and Dunga apparently feels he can do without the Paris Saint-Germain man’s free-kick expertise.
Fredy Guarin, Colombia
Another Colombian talent who traded a leading European club (Inter Milan) for China (Shanghai Shenhua). Jose Pekerman, it appears, is none too impressed with the Chinese Super League.
Giovani dos Santos, Mexico
The former Barcelona turned Tottenham turned thrice-loaned turned Mallorca turned Villarreal striker now plies his trade for LA Galaxy, a fairly steep decline for someone who once really did look like a future international star. Mexico, simply, have better options.
Jozy Altidore, United States
Remember Jozy Altidore? Of course you remember Jozy Altidore! Say what you will about his club career (it won’t be good), but he has always been a strangely effective presence for the US. Not this year, though, with an injury keeping him away from proceedings.
Jefferson Farfan, Peru
The small, speedy winger had long, productive stints at both PSV Eindhoven and Schalke before arriving in Abu Dhabi with Al Jazira a year ago. He never looked quite in top form in the UAE capital, then got hurt and now has faded out of the international picture.
Felipe Caicedo, Ecuador
Another with ties to Al Jazira, where he played briefly in 2014, he has done reasonably well for Espanyol in La Liga the past two seasons, but won’t get the chance to keep up his production at international level with an injury the cause for his absence here.
If you go
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Santiago, via Sao Paolo cost from Dh5,295 with Emirates.
The trip
A five-day trip (not including two days of flight travel) was split between Santiago and in Puerto Varas, with more time spent in the later where excursions were organised by TurisTour.
When to go
The summer months, from December to February are best though there is beauty in each season
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
PROFILE OF STARZPLAY
Date started: 2014
Founders: Maaz Sheikh, Danny Bates
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment/Streaming Video On Demand
Number of employees: 125
Investors/Investment amount: $125 million. Major investors include Starz/Lionsgate, State Street, SEQ and Delta Partners
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
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Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
Which products are to be taxed?
To be taxed:
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
Products excluded from the ‘sweetened drink’ category would contain at least 75 per cent milk in a ready-to-drink form or as a milk substitute, baby formula, follow-up formula or baby food, beverages consumed for medicinal use and special dietary needs determined as per GCC Standardisation Organisation rules
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
UAE's role in anti-extremism recognised
General John Allen, President of the Brookings Institution research group, commended the role the UAE has played in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
He told a Globsec debate of the UAE’s "hugely outsized" role in the fight against Isis.
"It’s trite these days to say that any country punches above its weight, but in every possible way the Emirates did, both militarily, and very importantly, the UAE was extraordinarily helpful on getting to the issue of violent extremism," he said.
He also noted the impact that Hedayah, among others in the UAE, has played in addressing violent extremism.
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
The%20Boy%20and%20the%20Heron
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Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
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.”
