Japan's Tadanari Lee volleys the only goal past Australia's goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer during extra time in Doha last night.
Japan's Tadanari Lee volleys the only goal past Australia's goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer during extra time in Doha last night.

One mistake cost us, says Australia coach Holger Osieck



DOHA // It was a compelling collision of speed and quickness versus strength and size, and for nearly two hours Asia's two best sides battered each other with their diametrically opposed styles.

Neither could establish superiority, Japan advancing on the ground and Australia through the air, and the unsatisfying prospect of another shoot-out hung over Khalifa Stadium like a dark cloud.

Finally, Japan pulled apart the exhausted Australian defence. Yuto Nagatomo, who had tormented Australia up the left flank almost from the first kick, found space in the corner, floated a long cross to Tadanari Lee.

The substitute forward hammered home a sublime, side-swinging left-footed volley in the 109th minute as Japan won the Asian Cup in memorable fashion, a 1-0 victory before 37,174 fans in Doha last night.

"It was the only position mistake we made and it was a very costly one," Holger Osieck, the Australia coach, said, claiming that fatigue was at the root of his players' failure to get tight on Lee.

"We are disappointed that we ended up second. We had our opportunities but unfortunately we couldn't convert. We had to be more clinical in our finishing. I feel sorry for the boys, they didn't get the reward for all their efforts."

It was Lee's first international goal for Japan, and it seems unlikely he will ever score a bigger one.

Japan have now won the biggest tournament on the planet's largest continent a record four times, all from the past six tournaments, a two-decade run of excellence that would seem to stamp the Japanese as Asia's best and most consistent side for a generation.

They were certainly worthy in this tournament. They twice came from behind to win games - against Qatar in the group stages and South Korea in the semi-finals.

Throughout, Alberto Zaccheroni's team showed cohesion and a fighting spirit worthy of champions.

"We played the entire tournament with great courage and always sought to impose our game," said Japan's Italian coach. "We have a very young team. The bench players have made a big contribution, just as Lee did today."

It was a bitter defeat for Australia. A member of the Asian Football Confederation only since 2006, the Australians and their "golden generation" core of Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell, Lucas Neill and Mark Schwarzer, fell just short of winning their first major championship when they conceded only their second goal in six matches.

It took a remarkable goal, and extra time, before they could be broken down by the indefatigable Japanese.

"We should have won the game," Cahill said. "We had more chances. But they won, and I'm not going to be bitter about it, but it would have meant so much to us to win this tournament."

Keisuke Honda, the Japan midfielder, expressed "great joy" at winning the tournament.

"We attack and always attack," he said, adding that their Italian coach, Zaccheroni, encouraged their press-ahead style.

Lee, an ethnic Korean who was born in Japan and received citizenship in 2007, came on in the 98th minute for Ryoichi Maeda, and he made little impact on the game until he won it.

He had charged down the middle of the pitch as Nagatoma, who plays for Cesena in Italy, beat Luke Wilkshire down the left side.

Lee was behind Sasa Ognenovski, Australia's massive central defender, as Nagatoma's cross came in, true but hard.

Rather than trap the ball in an attempt to set up a perfect shot, a tactic Japanese forwards had been trying without success for much of the night, the 25-year-old striker for Sanfrecce Hiroshima of the J-League let fly with a pivoting volley, which rocketed past the helpless Australian goalkeeper Schwarzer.

The first minutes established the tenor of the game. Japan's clear speed advantage prompted Australia to cede large chunks of the field and lots of possession, but the Japanese were nervous and tentative on those rare chances when they had a look at the goal against the stingiest defence in the tournament.

Meanwhile, when Australia came forward, they inevitably lobbed the ball into the box, and produced the better scoring chances with their superior skills in the air.

Australia's best early chances were all headers. The most dangerous came off a corner in the 19th minute. Cahill flicked David Carney's service toward goal, and Kewell used his head to deflect the shot a foot or so to the right, and the Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima, who was outstanding throughout, did very well to fling his left hand behind him and parry the shot.

Kawashima twice saved Japan late in normal time, each time against Kewell.

In the 72nd minute Kewell flicked the ball over the head of Daiki Iwamusa and bore down on Kawashima, who deflected the shot with his right foot. Then, 13 minutes later, Kawashima bolted from his line to smother the ball an instant before Kewell could chip it over him.

The game went into extra time goalless, and Australia were left to rue those missed chances.

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.

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

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The Bio

Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.

It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.

The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media. 

Sri Lanka squad

Dinesh Chandimal, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kaushal Silva, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Niroshan Dickwella, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Rangana Herath, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan, Vishwa Fernando, Lahiru Kumara, Jeffrey Vandersay, Milinda Siriwardana, Roshen Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Charith Asalanka, Shaminda Eranga and Dhammika Prasad.

SPEC SHEET

Display: 10.9" Liquid Retina IPS, 2360 x 1640, 264ppi, wide colour, True Tone, Apple Pencil support

Chip: Apple M1, 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine

Memory: 64/256GB storage; 8GB RAM

Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, Smart HDR

Video: 4K @ 25/25/30/60fps, full HD @ 25/30/60fps, slo-mo @ 120/240fps

Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR, Centre Stage; full HD @ 25/30/60fps

Audio: Stereo speakers

Biometrics: Touch ID

I/O: USB-C, smart connector (for folio/keyboard)

Battery: Up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi; up to 9 hours on cellular

Finish: Space grey, starlight, pink, purple, blue

Price: Wi-Fi – Dh2,499 (64GB) / Dh3,099 (256GB); cellular – Dh3,099 (64GB) / Dh3,699 (256GB)

Dubai Rugby Sevens

November 30, December 1-2
International Vets
Christina Noble Children’s Foundation fixtures

Thursday, November 30:

10.20am, Pitch 3, v 100 World Legends Project
1.20pm, Pitch 4, v Malta Marauders

Friday, December 1:

9am, Pitch 4, v SBA Pirates

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

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The specs

Engine 60kwh FWD

Battery Rimac 120kwh Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (LiNiMnCoO2) chemistry

Power 204hp Torque 360Nm

Price, base / as tested Dh174,500 

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.”

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
WRESTLING HIGHLIGHTS
Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk

“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”

“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”

“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”

“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”

Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
  • Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
  • Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
  • Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
 
 
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