On the eve of his Gulf Cup of Nations opener against the UAE, the Oman coach Paul Le Guen had talked about avenging their 2-0 loss to Bahrain in the most recent tournament, a result that had sent his team home early.
“It is time for revenge,” the Frenchman said.
A goalless draw was probably not on his mind when he said that, but Le Guen might just take it, because the result is probably a lot more difficult to accept for the UAE than his own.
It might have even put a small dent in the UAE’s hopes of defending their title.
With Kuwait and Iraq up next, Mahdi Ali’s men have a big job ahead of them and will need to lift their performance a few notches.
on Friday night, they were not at their best. The UAE were far from fluent and struggled to keep possession. The passing was a bit awry and that allowed the Omanis to dictate play.
Le Guen’s men were a much more organised than the UAE, looked crisp relaying the ball and hogged as much as 60 per cent of possession in the first 45 minutes.
The absence of Emad Al Hosni from the tournament through injury, though, meant that they did not have someone to take advantage of that superior possession.
The toughest test for the UAE goalkeeper came through one of his own defenders – in the fifth minute, when Mohaned Salem almost deflected a free kick into his own goal.
Fortunately, Ali Kasheif was able to leap high to tip the ball over the crossbar.
Oman had another great chance in the 31st minute after a good run down the left by Qasim Said, but Mohammed Al Siyabi blasted the ball over from a couple of metres out.
Ali Al Habsi, the Omani goalkeeper, had a tougher time at the other end but the former Wigan Athletic standout, now on loan at Brighton and Hove Albion, kept frustrating the Emiratis.
First, he dived low to his left to keep a blistering Ismail Al Hammadi volley out in the 18th minute.
In the 34th minute, he was flying to his other side to punch away Ahmed Khalil’s curling free kick.
Frustrated, the Emiratis tried to innovate. Al Hammadi attempted to chip the ball over the keeper, who had charged out of the box, in the 37th minute, but his shot sailed just wide.
Khalil came over to provide a sympathetic hug to his teammate, but he was himself left in disbelief just a minute later when his attempt to curl the ball away from Al Habsi and into the far corner just missed the target.
The Omani keeper’s brilliance continued into the second half as he stretched to palm over an Al Hammadi attempt in the 46th minute and then dived in front to keep out another Khalil free kick in the 67th minute.
The UAE kept trying, but they just could not find a way past Al Habsi and had to eventually settle for a draw, the third in three games of this Gulf Cup.
Kuwait 1 Iraq 0
Kuwait’s Fahad Al Enezi gave the fans in Riyadh something to cheer last night after 180 minutes of largely fruitless football. His strike, a curling effort from 18 yards that just eluded Jalal Hassan Hachim’s grasp, in the second minute of second-half stoppage time gave Kuwait a 1-0 victory over Iraq.
The teams cancelled each other out for large periods of a physical game at the Prince Faisal bin Fahad Stadium in the Saudi Arabian capital, which saw six players booked. Jorvan Vieira’s Kuwait side face the UAE next on Monday before Iraq take on Oman.
It could have been different for Iraq, who thought they had scored in the first half, but goal-line technology showed that a Kuwaiti defender cleared the ball off the line amid appeals he made contact with his hand. But the referee was correct in allowing play to continue before Al Enezi struck – after receiving the ball from a teammate who appeared to be offside – to send Kuwait top of Group B.
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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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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Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
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
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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BORDERLANDS
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jamie Lee Curtis
Director: Eli Roth
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Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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