Defeated from 102 yards but unbeatable from 12: it is an understatement to say that Adam Bogdan's last two Premier League games have brought contrasting experiences.
The Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper has been embarrassed and has excelled in two bittersweet games. A 2-1 win at Everton was his first Premier League victory.
It is not the reason the Hungarian's involvement will be remembered, however.
On a day of gales, his opposite number Tim Howard's clearance was taken by a gust of wind and flew over the unfortunate Bogdan.
The American, who had once conceded to a fellow shot-stopper himself, refused to celebrate after becoming only the fourth goalkeeper ever to score in the Premier League.
Ten days later, Bogdan illustrated why he is so highly rated at the Reebok Stadium. While Bolton lost 3-0 to Manchester United on Saturday, the 24 year old enhanced his own reputation by saving Wayne Rooney's penalty.
It prompted Owen Coyle, the Bolton manager, to suggest he is considering ending Jussi Jaaskelainen's long reign as the Wanderers' first-choice goalkeeper. "I have got a decision to make every week with Adam Bogdan and Jussi Jaaskelainen," he said. "We know Adam is destined for a huge career."
It began in his native Hungary. Bogdan is from Obuda, the least known of the three districts that make up the country's capital; Buda and Pest are the others, giving the city its name. Bogdan would cross the River Danube every day to attend school in Pest.
"I started at a small club when I was nine," he said. "I was only there for one year before I moved to FC Vasas, who are one of the biggest clubs in the country."
In a decade, he progressed through the junior sides to the reserves, before sitting on the bench for the senior side. His only taste of first-team football, however, came on loan at Vecses, a second-division side.
International football brought him to Bolton's attention. After playing for Hungary's Under 21 side, he was given a trial and then offered a contract in 2007. It was during Sammy Lee's ill-fated reign as manager, but more than four years after his departure, a benefit is belatedly emerging.
Not that Bogdan was involved initially. His first task was to get acclimatised to English football's physical demands.
"What you notice is everything is so much faster," he said. "Before I came to England, I always felt I could come and claim every cross but I had to learn which not to because there are times I would get smashed to the floor."
It took him three years to come into contention. He became Jaaskelainen's understudy when Ali Al Habsi, the Oman No 1, was first loaned and then sold to Wigan Athletic. After a solitary league game, on loan at Crewe, he was thrust into the top flight when Jaaskelainen was sent off against Birmingham in August 2010. He realised an ambition in the 2-2 draw.
"When I was growing up, it was my dream to play in the Premier League," he said.
With Coyle blooding the younger goalkeeper in cup competitions, further opportunities have arrived this season. One, however, was an afternoon to forget. Bogdan fumbled shots to allow Daniel Sturridge and Frank Lampard to score in Chelsea's 5-1 win.
"They should have been basic saves," Coyle said. "I feel for the kid but he's got to show the character to come through it."
He has. "After the Chelsea game, I was a bit down but I played against Arsenal in the Carling Cup a few weeks later," Bogdan said. "I went away confident because I felt I played well at Emirates Stadium."
With Jaaskelainen injured, he played, and earned Coyle's praise, at both Goodison Park and Old Trafford.
In the process, a mentor has become a rival.
"Jussi doesn't coach me but he gives me important advice," Bogdan said. "We've got a good relationship. The biggest thing you can learn from Jussi is how to be professional and basic things that are needed to reach the top level, such as decision making."
He has reached the top level for club and country, debuting for Hungary last summer and winning four caps. As at Bolton, he is the young pretender to an established goalkeeper. The veteran Gabor Kiraly has 85 caps but there is increasing awareness of the challenger in his homeland.
"When I go home, more and more people are starting to recognise me," he said. "Sometimes it's good and sometimes not so good." As his last two league games illustrate, infamy and fame can go hand in hand.
sports@thenational.ae
The biog
Favourite hobby: taking his rescue dog, Sally, for long walks.
Favourite book: anything by Stephen King, although he said the films rarely match the quality of the books
Favourite film: The Shawshank Redemption stands out as his favourite movie, a classic King novella
Favourite music: “I have a wide and varied music taste, so it would be unfair to pick a single song from blues to rock as a favourite"
WITHIN%20SAND
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Moe%20Alatawi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Ra%E2%80%99ed%20Alshammari%2C%20Adwa%20Fahd%2C%20Muhand%20Alsaleh%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
%3Cp%3ECreator%3A%20Tima%20Shomali%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0Tara%20Abboud%2C%C2%A0Kira%20Yaghnam%2C%20Tara%20Atalla%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How Tesla’s price correction has hit fund managers
Investing in disruptive technology can be a bumpy ride, as investors in Tesla were reminded on Friday, when its stock dropped 7.5 per cent in early trading to $575.
It recovered slightly but still ended the week 15 per cent lower and is down a third from its all-time high of $883 on January 26. The electric car maker’s market cap fell from $834 billion to about $567bn in that time, a drop of an astonishing $267bn, and a blow for those who bought Tesla stock late.
The collapse also hit fund managers that have gone big on Tesla, notably the UK-based Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust and Cathie Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF.
Tesla is the top holding in both funds, making up a hefty 10 per cent of total assets under management. Both funds have fallen by a quarter in the past month.
Matt Weller, global head of market research at GAIN Capital, recently warned that Tesla founder Elon Musk had “flown a bit too close to the sun”, after getting carried away by investing $1.5bn of the company’s money in Bitcoin.
He also predicted Tesla’s sales could struggle as traditional auto manufacturers ramp up electric car production, destroying its first mover advantage.
AJ Bell’s Russ Mould warns that many investors buy tech stocks when earnings forecasts are rising, almost regardless of valuation. “When it works, it really works. But when it goes wrong, elevated valuations leave little or no downside protection.”
A Tesla correction was probably baked in after last year’s astonishing share price surge, and many investors will see this as an opportunity to load up at a reduced price.
Dramatic swings are to be expected when investing in disruptive technology, as Ms Wood at ARK makes clear.
Every week, she sends subscribers a commentary listing “stocks in our strategies that have appreciated or dropped more than 15 per cent in a day” during the week.
Her latest commentary, issued on Friday, showed seven stocks displaying extreme volatility, led by ExOne, a leader in binder jetting 3D printing technology. It jumped 24 per cent, boosted by news that fellow 3D printing specialist Stratasys had beaten fourth-quarter revenues and earnings expectations, seen as good news for the sector.
By contrast, computational drug and material discovery company Schrödinger fell 27 per cent after quarterly and full-year results showed its core software sales and drug development pipeline slowing.
Despite that setback, Ms Wood remains positive, arguing that its “medicinal chemistry platform offers a powerful and unique view into chemical space”.
In her weekly video view, she remains bullish, stating that: “We are on the right side of change, and disruptive innovation is going to deliver exponential growth trajectories for many of our companies, in fact, most of them.”
Ms Wood remains committed to Tesla as she expects global electric car sales to compound at an average annual rate of 82 per cent for the next five years.
She said these are so “enormous that some people find them unbelievable”, and argues that this scepticism, especially among institutional investors, “festers” and creates a great opportunity for ARK.
Only you can decide whether you are a believer or a festering sceptic. If it’s the former, then buckle up.
Results
STAGE
1 . Filippo Ganna (Ineos) - 0:13:56
2. Stefan Bissegger (Education-Nippo) - 0:00:14
3. Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:21
4. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 0:00:24
5. Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) - 0:00:30
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) - 4:00:05
2. Joao Almeida (QuickStep) - 0:00:05
3. Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep) - 0:00:18
4. Chris Harper (Jumbo-Visma) - 0:00:33
5. Adam Yates (Ineos) - 0:00:39
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3EName%3A%20Tabby%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%20August%202019%3B%20platform%20went%20live%20in%20February%202020%3Cbr%3EFounder%2FCEO%3A%20Hosam%20Arab%2C%20co-founder%3A%20Daniil%20Barkalov%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Payments%3Cbr%3ESize%3A%2040-50%20employees%3Cbr%3EStage%3A%20Series%20A%3Cbr%3EInvestors%3A%20Arbor%20Ventures%2C%20Mubadala%20Capital%2C%20Wamda%20Capital%2C%20STV%2C%20Raed%20Ventures%2C%20Global%20Founders%20Capital%2C%20JIMCO%2C%20Global%20Ventures%2C%20Venture%20Souq%2C%20Outliers%20VC%2C%20MSA%20Capital%2C%20HOF%20and%20AB%20Accelerator.%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday Stuttgart v Cologne (Kick-off 10.30pm UAE)
Saturday RB Leipzig v Hertha Berlin (5.30pm)
Mainz v Borussia Monchengladbach (5.30pm)
Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)
Union Berlin v SC Freiburg (5.30pm)
Borussia Dortmund v Schalke (5.30pm)
Sunday Wolfsburg v Arminia (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Hoffenheim (9pm)
Bayer Leverkusen v Augsburg (11.30pm)
Results
Women finals: 48kg - Urantsetseg Munkhbat (MGL) bt Distria Krasniqi (KOS); 52kg - Odette Guiffrida (ITA) bt Majlinda Kelmendi (KOS); 57kg - Nora Gjakova (KOS) bt Anastasiia Konkina (Rus)
Men’s finals: 60kg - Amiran Papinashvili (GEO) bt Francisco Garrigos (ESP); 66kg - Vazha Margvelashvili (Geo) bt Yerlan Serikzhanov (KAZ)
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (11.30pm)
Saturday Freiburg v Borussia Monchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund, Cologne v Wolfsburg, Arminia Bielefeld v Mainz (6.30pm) Bayern Munich v RB Leipzig (9.30pm)
Sunday Werder Bremen v Stuttgart (6.30pm), Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (9pm)
Monday Hoffenheim v Augsburg (11.30pm)
