Last Sunday’s annual general meeting of Hertha Berlin’s members struggled to sound upbeat. The gathering was not really a gathering because local public health restrictions meant the speeches were made to computer screens and watched digitally. It had not been a great weekend on the pitch, either.
The previous day, the team had drawn 0-0 at Wolfsburg, a team in free fall, without so much as a point in their previous seven Bundesliga outings and currently Hertha’s fellow-travellers in a region of Germany’s top division that no club with Champions League pretensions wants to occupy. Hertha sit 13th, Wolfsburg 14th in the 18-club table, the Berliners only four points clear of the relegation zone. And in Germany, so-called big clubs are not immune from the drop. Hertha need only peer down and see Hamburg and Schalke in the second tier.
But do Hertha, tenants of Germany’s most iconic arena, the Olympiastadion, count as a ‘big’ club? Their sporting director, the respected Fredi Bobic, addressed the issue in his 40-minute address to members at the AGM. “We have to grow into being a ‘big’ club,” he said. “It’s something we’re a long way from at the moment.”
Bobic is relatively new to his position — he was appointed last April — in an institution where executives come and go at a brisk rate and his tone was firm and full of hard truths. “We don’t want to fly any kites,” he told his audience. “For the last two or three years, a lot of breakthroughs have been announced, which is why the disappointments have been so hard.”
For decades, Berlin has pined for a club to represent the capital of Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, in the way other major capitals fly the flag in the world’s most popular sport. Madrid is home to the most successful European Cup club in history, Real; Atletico have a fine list of achievements, too. London is the home of the current Champions League holders, Chelsea, and five other Premier League clubs. Paris is the home of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe. Roma have at least reached a European Cup final in their history. The last time a club from Berlin even played in the Champions League was Hertha in early 2000.
But a breakthrough in that record may be imminent. The awkward aspect of it for Hertha is that the club currently sniffing around a top-four finish in the Bundesliga — fourth place means a Champions League berth — are Union Berlin, the middle-budget upstarts from across the city, who progress from one breakthrough to another at a rate Bobic and his associates can only envy.
This Wednesday, Hertha host Union in the last 16 of the German Cup, and though the tie will be played before a reduced crowd because of Covid-19-imposed limits, the tension will be palpable. Eight places and nine points separate the clubs in the Bundesliga, and the last derby, in November, prompted upheaval at Hertha. Just over a week after Union beat their near-neighbours 2-0, Bobic replaced manager Pal Dardai with Tayfun Korkut, who became the fifth man in the job in barely two years.
That turnover speaks to the impatience at Hertha, where in 2019, a seismic breakthrough was anticipated. The entrepreneur Lars Windhorst took a 49 per cent stake in the club. The transfer budget grew, Jurgen Klinsmann came in as manager under the slogan ‘The Future Belongs to Berlin’. Klinsmann lasted only a few months, and the bright future remained stubbornly at arm’s length. Hertha have not finished in the top half of the Bundesliga table for any of the last four seasons.
Half-an-hour’s drive away, in what used to be East Berlin, part of the old German Democratic Republic until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, there is only upward mobility. Union were promoted to the top flight of post-reunification German football for the first time in 2019, just as Hertha were coming into new money. Union and Hertha finished on the same points, 10th and 11th the following May. Last season, Union rose up to seventh and Hertha slipped to 14th.
The derby record, since the clubs have been in the top flight together, features two wins apiece and a draw. The lure to win Wednesday’s tie extends beyond local bragging rights. Bayern Munich have been knocked out of the German Cup as have Borussia Dortmund, a fillip for every other contender. Naturally, the final will be played in the Olympiastadion in the capital city that longs for a club it can call a champion.
Results
- Brock Lesnar retained the WWE Universal title against Roman Reigns
- Braun Strowman and Nicolas won the Raw Tag Team titles against Sheamus and Cesaro
- AJ Styles retained the WWE World Heavyweight title against Shinsuke Nakamura
- Nia Jax won the Raw Women’s title against Alexa Bliss
- Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon beat Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
- The Undertaker beat John Cena
- The Bludgeon Brothers won the SmackDown Tag Team titles against the Usos and New Day
- Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle beat Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
- Jinder Mahal won the United States title against Randy Orton, Rusev and Bobby Roode
- Charlotte retained the SmackDown Women’s title against Asuka
- Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental title against The Miz and Finn Balor
- Naomi won the first WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
- Cedric Alexander won the vacant Cruiserweight title against Mustafa Ali
- Matt Hardy won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal
RESULT
West Brom 2 Liverpool 2
West Brom: Livermore (79'), Rondón (88' )
Liverpool: Ings (4'), Salah (72')
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Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Read more about the coronavirus
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Range: 400km
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Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
Company%20Profile
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
Championship play-offs, second legs:
Aston Villa 0
Middlesbrough 0
(Aston Villa advance 1-0 on aggregate)
Fulham 2
Sessegnon (47'), Odoi (66')
Derby County 0
(Fulham advance 2-1 on aggregate)
Final
Saturday, May 26, Wembley. Kick off 8pm (UAE)
Company%20profile
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Huddersfield Town permanent signings:
- Steve Mounie (striker): signed from Montpellier for £11 million
- Tom Ince (winger): signed from Derby County for £7.7m
- Aaron Mooy (midfielder): signed from Manchester City for £7.7m
- Laurent Depoitre (striker): signed from Porto for £3.4m
- Scott Malone (defender): signed from Fulham for £3.3m
- Zanka (defender): signed from Copenhagen for £2.3m
- Elias Kachunga (winger): signed for Ingolstadt for £1.1m
- Danny WIlliams (midfielder): signed from Reading on a free transfer
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The biog
Fast facts on Neil Armstrong’s personal life:
- Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio
- He earned his private pilot’s license when he was 16 – he could fly before he could drive
- There was tragedy in his married life: Neil and Janet Armstrong’s daughter Karen died at the age of two in 1962 after suffering a brain tumour. She was the couple’s only daughter. Their two sons, Rick and Mark, consulted on the film
- After Armstrong departed Nasa, he bought a farm in the town of Lebanon, Ohio, in 1971 – its airstrip allowed him to tap back into his love of flying
- In 1994, Janet divorced Neil after 38 years of marriage. Two years earlier, Neil met Carol Knight, who became his second wife in 1994
If you go
The flights
Return flights from Dubai to Santiago, via Sao Paolo cost from Dh5,295 with Emirates.
The trip
A five-day trip (not including two days of flight travel) was split between Santiago and in Puerto Varas, with more time spent in the later where excursions were organised by TurisTour.
When to go
The summer months, from December to February are best though there is beauty in each season
Ronaldo's record at Man Utd
Seasons 2003/04 - 2008/09
Appearances 230
Goals 115
Pieces of Her
Stars: Toni Collette, Bella Heathcote, David Wenham, Omari Hardwick
Director: Minkie Spiro
Rating:2/5
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
