Hosts Brazil and world champions the United States made winning starts in the 2016 Rio Olympics women's football tournament on Wednesday although the competition met with a lukewarm response from fans.
Brazil comfortably saw off the challenge of China 3-0 at the Olympic stadium in Rio thanks to goals from Monica, Andressa Alves and Cristiane.
The United States began their quest for a fifth Olympic gold in six Games with a 2-0 win over New Zealand in Belo Horizonte.
World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd opened the scoring before Alex Morgan added a second.
However, the opening day of action saw vast swathes of empty seats across Brazil with six cities that hosted the 2014 World Cup being used for both women’s and men’s Olympic tournaments.
The first match of the Games saw Sweden beat South Africa 1-0 in front of an almost empty 60,000-seater Olympic stadium in Rio.
A healthier crowd enjoyed Brazil’s win with expectations high that five-time World Player of the Year Marta can inspire the hosts to go one better than the silver medals they won at the 2004 and 2008 Games and end the USA’s run of three straight golds.
• More Olympics
Rio 2016 TV: How to watch the Olympics in the UAE + schedules
Rio 2016: The National's full Olympics coverage
The 30-year-old, playing in her fourth Olympics, showed flashes of brilliance, even prompting the crowd to chant she was better than Brazilian football’s golden boy Neymar.
“Scoring three times against a team like China, with all the pressure we had, I think it’s super-perfect,” said Marta.
Brazil’s opener came in bizarre fashion when Monica’s tame header trickled past a sea of Chinese defenders and Zhao into the bottom corner.
Marta then showed her class by creating the second on the hour mark as she skipped down the right before picking out Andressa Alves for a volleyed finish.
Only a stunning save from Zhao prevented Marta sealing the win in style after a fine solo run and shot that was arrowing towards the bottom corner.
Marta was then replaced to a rousing reception before Cristiane nipped in ahead of keeper Zhao Lina to head home the third.
A year on from scoring a hat-trick in the World Cup final, Lloyd was again America’s star in the win over New Zealand.
Lloyd’s looping header from Tobin Heath’s cross after just nine minutes got the USA off to a flyer.
And they were even quicker out the blocks in the second period as Morgan’s low shot sneaked in at the near post inside a minute after the break.
Next up for the USA is a blockbuster clash with France, who impressively dispatched Colombia 4-0.
An early Carolina Arias own goal and further strikes from Eugenie Le Sommer and Camille Abily gave France a commanding half-time lead.
Amel Majri added a fourth with a stunning free-kick minutes from time.
Two-time world champions Germany thrashed Zimbabwe 6-1 on their debut in a major tournament to top Group F.
Melanie Behringer scored twice with Sara Dabritz, Alexandra Popp, Melanie Leupolz and a Eunice Chibanda own goal completing the scoring for Germany.
Canada set two Olympic records in beating Australia 2-0 in a battle between two quarter-finalists from last year’s World Cup.
Janine Beckie gave the Canadians an incredible start with the fastest goal in women’s Olympic history after just 19 seconds.
However, teammate Shelina Zadorsky also set an unwanted record with the fastest red card after just 19 minutes.
Canada’s veteran captain Christine Sinclair made it 2-0 with her 162nd international goal from fully 40 yards after rounding Aussie ‘keeper Lydia Williams.
Sweden’s Nilla Fischer scored the first goal of the tournament when she bundled home the winner 14 minutes from time in a scrappy 1-0 win over South Africa.
“It is a great feeling to have a big crowd, but today for us it was only about football, winning 1-0, and moving forward,” said Sweden coach Pia Sundhage in response to the paltry attendance.
“We didn’t play the way we should have and we didn’t play well but I am very satisfied with the result.”
Sweden are Brazil’s next opponents with all 12 sides in action once more on Saturday.
Follow us on Twitter @NatSportUAE
Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/TheNationalSport
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
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.”
SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 20: 11am to 7pm - Abu Dhabi World Jiu-Jitsu Festival and Para jiu-jitsu.
Sunday, April 21: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (female) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Monday, April 22: 11am to 6pm - Abu Dhabi World Youth (male) Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Tuesday, April 23: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Masters Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Wednesday, April 24: 11am-6pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Thursday, April 25: 11am-5pm Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Friday, April 26: 3pm to 6pm Finals of the Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship.
Saturday, April 27: 4pm and 8pm awards ceremony.
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), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
