DUBAI // On the eve of the final, Gilberto da Costa, the Brazil coach, had described Iran as “the best team in Asia”. And they definitely are. But, as last night’s title clash showed, there is huge gulf between Asia’s best and the boys from the home of beach soccer.
The Brazilians had looked in a league of their own in this Intercontinental Cup, cruising through the group stages and nonchalantly dismissing the defending champions Russia 7-0 in the semis. In the final, they dished out more of the same. Iran never looked short in spirit, and indeed had much support from the stands, but they were simply outclassed in the 6-2 defeat.
“It was not easy,” said Da Costa as he celebrated Brazil’s second Intercontinental Cup success after their 2014 triumph. “Iran fought until the end, so we had to stay focused until the last second.”
Cheered on by the huge turnout of Iranian fans, Moslem Mesigar put the Iranians ahead inside the first two minutes of the match, but their joy was short-lived as Diogo Catarino drilled in the equaliser 40 seconds later. Bruno da Silva, the leading goal-scorer of the tournament, then made it 2-1 from the penalty spot, taking his individual tally to eight.
The Brazilians were in cruise mode from thereon, racing to a 5-1 lead inside the first five minutes of the second period, with two goals from Rafael Antonio and one from Daniel Nogueira, before Mohammed Ahmadzadeh pulled one back for the Iranians from the penalty spot to make it 5-2 heading into the final period, where Catarino added his second of the night to the tally.
Delighted with the performance of his team in Dubai, Da Costa has urged his players to keep working hard if they hope to join Russia and Portugal as the best teams in the world.
“For me, Russia and Portugal are still the two best teams in the world,” he said. “So we need to keep working hard and keep getting results like this. If we can do that, maybe we can become the best in the world.”
Russia, however, have not hit the high notes in 2016. World champions in 2011 and 2013, they failed to qualify for the 2017 World Cup in Bahamas, finishing fifth in the European qualification. And now, they have lost their Intercontinental Cup crown as well.
This is the first time since 2009 when Russia will finish a season without a title and finishing third here, following a battling 4-3 win over Tahiti, was hardly a consolation.
“It is really difficult to play a match for the third place because we are a team used to winning titles, or playing finals, and our fans our accustomed to this,” said Mikhail Likhachev. “So mentally, this match was perhaps tougher than the final.”
Earlier, Poland beat Egypt in the play-off for fifth spot, edging the penalty shootout 2-0 after the sides had finished 3-3 at the end of regulation and extra time. The UAE, meanwhile, managed to close their dismal campaign with their first win in five matches when they beat the United States 4-3 in the play-off for seventh place.
Results
Final: Brazil 6 Iran 2
Play-off for 3rd place: Russia 4 Tahiti 3
Play-off for 5th place: Poland 3 Egypt 3 (2-0 pen)
Play-off for 7th place: UAE 4 USA 3
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Seven tips from Emirates NBD
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RESULTS
Bantamweight title:
Vinicius de Oliveira (BRA) bt Xavier Alaoui (MAR)
(KO round 2)
Catchweight 68kg:
Sean Soriano (USA) bt Noad Lahat (ISR)
(TKO round 1)
Middleweight:
Denis Tiuliulin (RUS) bt Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
(TKO round 1)
Lightweight:
Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) bt Joachim Tollefsen (DEN)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 68kg:
Austin Arnett (USA) bt Daniel Vega (MEX)
(TKO round 3)
Lightweight:
Carrington Banks (USA) bt Marcio Andrade (BRA)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 58kg:
Corinne Laframboise (CAN) bt Malin Hermansson (SWE)
(Submission round 2)
Bantamweight:
Jalal Al Daaja (CAN) bt Juares Dea (CMR)
(Split decision)
Middleweight:
Mohamad Osseili (LEB) bt Ivan Slynko (UKR)
(TKO round 1)
Featherweight:
Tarun Grigoryan (ARM) bt Islam Makhamadjanov (UZB)
(Unanimous decision)
Catchweight 54kg:
Mariagiovanna Vai (ITA) bt Daniella Shutov (ISR)
(Submission round 1)
Middleweight:
Joan Arastey (ESP) bt Omran Chaaban (LEB)
(Unanimous decision)
Welterweight:
Bruno Carvalho (POR) bt Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
(TKO)
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
Scores in brief:
- New Medical Centre 129-5 in 17 overs bt Zayed Cricket Academy 125-6 in 20 overs.
- William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana 188-8 in 20 overs bt One Stop Tourism 184-8 in 20 overs
- Alubond Tigers 138-7 in 20 overs bt United Bank Limited 132-7 in 20 overs
- Multiplex 142-6 in 17 overs bt Xconcepts Automobili 140 all out in 20 overs
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SPECS%3A%20Polestar%203
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The specs: 2019 Cadillac XT4
Price, base: Dh145,000
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged in-line four-cylinder engine
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 237hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 350Nm @ 1,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 8.7L / 100km
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Tim Paine (captain), Sean Abbott, Pat Cummins, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Will Pucovski, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade, David Warner
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAlmouneer%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dr%20Noha%20Khater%20and%20Rania%20Kadry%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEgypt%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E120%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%2C%20with%20support%20from%20Insead%20and%20Egyptian%20government%2C%20seed%20round%20of%20%3Cbr%3E%243.6%20million%20led%20by%20Global%20Ventures%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000
On sale: now
The specs: 2018 BMW R nineT Scrambler
Price, base / as tested Dh57,000
Engine 1,170cc air/oil-cooled flat twin four-stroke engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 110hp) @ 7,750rpm
Torque 116Nm @ 6,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.3L / 100km
The%20Specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.6-litre%204-cylinder%20petrol%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E118hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20149Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Six-speed%20automatic%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh61%2C500%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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.