SHARJAH // Al Nasr became the first club to qualify to the semi-finals of the President’s Cup on Monday night when they defeated Al Dhaid 3-2 at Al Sharjah Stadium, but not before getting a mighty scare from the Division One club.
Dhaid, who had upset the top-flight side Al Shaab in the previous round, got off to a perfect start by taking the lead in farcical manner in the third minute.
A long ball into Nasr’s penalty area had goalkeeper Saoud Saeed back-peddling to his goal line as Pan Koulibaly bore down on him. The goalkeeper slipped, leaving the Burkino Faso striker the easiest of chances to score.
A shock looked on the cards when Al Nasr were frustrated throughout the first half in their efforts to pull level.
The turning point of the match came two minutes into the second half when Dhaid’s Abdullah Mohammed gave away a penalty which Leonardo Lima converted to square the match. With Dhaid down to 10 men, Nasr took control and then the lead, on 53 minutes, when Ibrahima Toure headed from a Brett Holman cross.
The Arabian Gulf League side looked to have settled the tie when Tariq Ahmed’s low drive made it 3-1 with only five minutes left, but Dhaid hit back two minutes later through Omar Al Mansouri’s excellent left-foot drive.
Despite a few uncomfortable minutes, Nasr held on to progress to the next round, but their coach Ivan Jovanovic was far from pleased with performance.
“It was a difficult game for us for sure, and it’s very important that we got to the President’s Cup semi-final,” he said.
“But the performance we gave in the first half was not what we expect from Al Nasr.”
Jovanovic acknowledged that his team has underperformed against teams they are expected to beat in the cup.
“It’s true, when you play a second-division team you have to be very serious,” he added. “We conceded first and were chasing the game, which is a concern for us.”
Dhaid’s assistant coach Ibrahima Traore was proud of the way his team played, especially after the sending off. “I’m very happy with the team. Many people thought we couldn’t come here and score twice but the penalty and the red card changed the match,” he said. “We are proud.”
Al Ahli through after difficult game against Al Wahda
Ciel’s 60th-minute penalty gave Al Ahli their first lead, and a strike by Ismail Al Hammadi in the 80th minute clinched an unexpectedly difficult 4-2 victory over Al Wahda for the President’s Cup holders at Khalifa Stadium in Al Ain on Monday night.
Luis Jimenez and Grafite also scored for the winners. Damian Diaz scored both of Wahda’s goals. After an 11-pass sequence by Wahda, the little Argentine fired home a rocket from 24 metres to grab a 1-0 lead for the Abu Dhabi side. His crisp diagonal goal inside the far post made it 2-1 before half time.
Rogerio stars for Al Dhafra
Jose Rogerio, the Brazilian striker, scored in the second minute of extra time as Al Dhafra scored a shock 1-0 victory over Al Shabab at the Baniyas Stadium.
Rogerio joined Abdullah Misfir’s side only a week ago, but his goal puts Dhafra in the semi-finals and knocks out last year’s losing finalists.
akhaled@thenational.ae
Match info
Wolves 0
Arsenal 2 (Saka 43', Lacazette 85')
Man of the match: Shkodran Mustafi (Arsenal)
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
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FINAL RESULT
Sharjah Wanderers 20 Dubai Tigers 25 (After extra-time)
Wanderers
Tries: Gormley, Penalty
cons: Flaherty
Pens: Flaherty 2
Tigers
Tries: O’Donnell, Gibbons, Kelly
Cons: Caldwell 2
Pens: Caldwell, Cross
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.”
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30:
- UAE bt Nepal by 78 runs
- Hong Kong bt Singapore by 5 wickets
- Oman bt Malaysia by 2 wickets
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
Avengers: Endgame
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
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Dust storm
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
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Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
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