Borussia Dortmund’s German Cup final on Saturday night against Wolfsburg will come with farewells. Jurgen Klopp one last time leads the club he has come to define over six seasons; Sebastian Kehl, long-serving captain, also bids a probable goodbye. Dortmunders hope, though, the occasion will provide a happy “welcome back” for a footballer they lost and regained.
Symbol of past glories
Shinji Kagawa, 26, became a much-loved member of the Dortmund sides who hit the peaks of Klopp’s reign. The Japanese attacking midfielder starred in the squads who won back-to-back Bundesliga titles in 2011 and 2012. In the last season of his first spell, he won the German Cup, which is now Dortmund’s last chance of a title this season.
Fervent fan club
Kagawa returned to the Ruhr last August, ending his two-year stay at Manchester United. His popularity, among Borussia fans and in his native Japan, was confirmed immediately. Dortmund reported 10,000 replica Kagawa No 7 jerseys were purchased in the week after his return.
Manchester malaise
Kagawa’s Premier League adventure was a partial success. Although he won the title in what would be Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season at Old Trafford, he was seldom as influential at United as he had been with Dortmund. He scored six times in 17 matches under Ferguson. Under David Moyes he failed to score and was named in the first XI just 11 times.
Bittersweet return
He did not immediately settle at Dortmund. He scored in his first match, then went quiet. He spent January with Japan’s Asian Cup team, and his failure to convert a penalty in Japan’s quarter-final shoot-out against the UAE meant the end of his country’s defence of that title.
Upturn in form
In the last two months, Kagawa has looked his old self. In his past eight starts in the league, he scored four times and contributed three assists as Dortmund moved up to mid-table. Capping that with a cup victory would be a handsome consolation prize for the travails of his past 20 months.
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre, four-cylinder turbo
Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch automatic
Power: 169bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh54,500
On sale: now
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
The%20Specs
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SPECS
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Brief scores:
Toss: South Africa, chose to field
Pakistan: 177 & 294
South Africa: 431 & 43-1
Man of the Match: Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
Series: South Africa lead three-match series 2-0
Uefa Nations League: How it works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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Results
United States beat UAE by three wickets
United States beat Scotland by 35 runs
UAE v Scotland – no result
United States beat UAE by 98 runs
Scotland beat United States by four wickets
Fixtures
Sunday, 10am, ICC Academy, Dubai - UAE v Scotland
Admission is free
