Roberto Mancini is not the only Italian manager putting his faith in Manchester City.
The Eastlands coach will surely have raised a smile last night when his countryman Fabio Capello selected six City players in his squad to play Switzerland.
The surprise pick was Joleon Lescott who started at centre-back ahead of Bolton's Gary Cayhill, who came on as a substitute against Bulgaria on Friday and had been expected to retain his place.
Joe Hart, of course, was in goal and he was joined in the starting line-up by Gareth Barry and James Milner, the midfielders.
Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips, the two City widemen, were on the bench but Johnson made it five City players on the field when he replaced the injured Theo Walcott after just 13 minutes last night which England won 3-1.
However, last night was a disappointing one for City's Vincent Kompany who was sent off in Belgium's match with Turkey. But six players from one club in an England international squad is a rare achievement and will no doubt have had City fans looking back to their last "golden generation" when the likes of Colin Bell, Francis Lee, Mike Summerbee and Rodney Marsh were England regulars in the late 70s and early 80s.
In addition to their success with England and an assault on the Premier League, City are now flexing their muscle on the cinema screen as well.
Today marks the opening night of Blue Moon Rising a film that depicts life at City during the first full season of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed's ownership.
Created by Big Brother producers Endemol and directed by BAFTA winner Stewart Sugg, the film lives last season through the eyes of seven fans. Following them around the country, it also includes exclusive interviews with Mancini and Khaldoon al Mubarak, the club chairman. The "access all areas" view of City life covers the dismissal of Mark Hughes and the appointment of Mancini, plus the highs and lows of a season that were encapsulated in a two-leg Carling Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United.
"Blue Moon Rising reinforces Manchester City's standing as the most fascinating story in the world of football," David Pullan, the commercial director, said.
"It will be a lasting testimony to one of the most exciting years in Manchester City's history."
Meanwhile, Gerrard Houllier is poised to become the 25th manager in Aston Villa's 126-year history with his appointment as Martin O'Neill's successor expected to be announced in the next 24 hours.
Houllier will be only the second foreign coach to take charge of the English Midlands club after Jozef Venglos' ill-fated spell two decades ago. He is set to be named as Villa's fifth manager of the new millennium after John Gregory, Graham Taylor, David O'Leary and O'Neill.
It will represent the end of a six-year exile from the Premier League for the Frenchman since his reign at Liverpool came to an end in May 2004.
Houllier, who has been working as France's technical director, is expected to face the media for the first time in his new role tomorrow. His first match in charge would be the away clash with Stoke City on Monday.
Houllier's former Liverpool number two, Phil Thompson, is expected to follow him to Villa Park. When Villa started recruiting in earnest to replace O'Neill, they admitted that Premier League experience was high on their list of priorities - and Houllier has that in abundance.
The former schoolteacher has been in management for 37 years and his clubs included Lens, Paris St Germain and, after leaving Anfield, Lyon.
He joined Liverpool in July 1998 and won the UEFA Cup, two League Cups, an FA Cup and a European Super Cup during almost six years at the helm.
* Agencies
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Pakistan v New Zealand Test series
Pakistan: Sarfraz (c), Hafeez, Imam, Azhar, Sohail, Shafiq, Azam, Saad, Yasir, Asif, Abbas, Hassan, Afridi, Ashraf, Hamza
New Zealand: Williamson (c), Blundell, Boult, De Grandhomme, Henry, Latham, Nicholls, Ajaz, Raval, Sodhi, Somerville, Southee, Taylor, Wagner
Umpires: Bruce Oxerford (AUS) and Ian Gould (ENG); TV umpire: Paul Reiffel (AUS); Match referee: David Boon (AUS)
Tickets and schedule: Entry is free for all spectators. Gates open at 9am. Play commences at 10am
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), Dh132,000 (Countryman)
The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
ZAYED SUSTAINABILITY PRIZE
Abu Dhabi Grand Slam Jiu-Jitsu World Tour Calendar 2018/19
July 29: OTA Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan
Sep 22-23: LA Convention Centre in Los Angeles, US
Nov 16-18: Carioca Arena Centre in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Feb 7-9: Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE
Mar 9-10: Copper Box Arena in London, UK
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
Scores:
Day 4
England 290 & 346
Sri Lanka 336 & 226-7 (target 301)
Sri Lanka require another 75 runs with three wickets remaining
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
How Voiss turns words to speech
The device has a screen reader or software that monitors what happens on the screen
The screen reader sends the text to the speech synthesiser
This converts to audio whatever it receives from screen reader, so the person can hear what is happening on the screen
A VOISS computer costs between $200 and $250 depending on memory card capacity that ranges from 32GB to 128GB
The speech synthesisers VOISS develops are free
Subsequent computer versions will include improvements such as wireless keyboards
Arabic voice in affordable talking computer to be added next year to English, Portuguese, and Spanish synthesiser
Partnerships planned during Expo 2020 Dubai to add more languages
At least 2.2 billion people globally have a vision impairment or blindness
More than 90 per cent live in developing countries
The Long-term aim of VOISS to reach the technology to people in poor countries with workshops that teach them to build their own device
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
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Haltia.ai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECo-founders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Arto%20Bendiken%20and%20Talal%20Thabet%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20AI%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2041%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20About%20%241.7%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Self%2C%20family%20and%20friends%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
Analysis
Members of Syria's Alawite minority community face threat in their heartland after one of the deadliest days in country’s recent history. Read more