You can have all the shiniest baubles in the world, but nothing earns credibility like achievement.
The Saudi Pro League (SPL) has Cristiano Ronaldo. They had Neymar. Maybe Lionel Messi will end up in Riyadh or Jeddah next.
All great, of course. But there is nothing like a win over the side who have been the benchmark for excellence for the past decade in the world’s most watched football league to make a statement.
Al Hilal’s thrilling extra-time win over Manchester City in the Club World Cup was exactly that. A landmark success that, it should be remembered, follows a draw with the mighty Real Madrid in the group stage. This is a serious team, and they mean business.
It is not the first time a side from the kingdom has been noticed by global football. Famously, Doha was awash with green when Saudi Arabia stunned Messi’s Argentina in the group stage of the 2022 World Cup.
Hilal’s win against City ranks right up there with that. It grabs the attention in the same way as the Salem Al Dawsari-inspired success against the world champions-elect in Qatar.
Al Dawsari is equally as totemic for Hilal as he is for the national team. The fact their stunning win against City came without their injured captain shows they are a side of great substance.
And, unlike in Doha, Hilal’s giant-killing could have lasting reverberations. The national team’s triumph against Argentina was well-earned and well-celebrated back home. But the side failed to progress thereafter.
Hilal, by contrast, are now through to a quarter-final against Fluminense. The Rio side may be one of the great names of Brazilian football, but the Riyadh team will regard them as beatable. Why wouldn’t they after what they have done so far in this competition?
They are unbeaten despite having faced titans like Madrid and City. Few beyond the region would have expected that ahead of the competition.
Maybe a few even among their own fanbase would have had their doubts, given the way the past few months have gone.
There are many similarities between Hilal and City. Both have expensively assembled squads who are used to competing for and winning the biggest titles available to them.
Also, like City in the Premier League, Hilal were not even the best team in Saudi Arabia last season, having previously set the highest standards.
Instead, the Lauren Blanc-coached Al Ittihad side of Karim Benzema, N'Golo Kante et al were worthy winners of the SPL.
And Ittihad’s city rivals, Al Ahli, earned themselves the title of best in Asia after a thrilling success on home soil in the AFC Champions League in Jeddah.
At the time those trophies were being vied for, Hilal were unravelling in the final throes of Jorge Jesus’ spell in charge.
In the penultimate SPL game of the season, they struggled to a draw with Al Wehda, a Makkah-based club who were themselves heading towards relegation.
Even then, Hilal retained an enviable squad of talent. As they have shown in the US, they have global stars of their own. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic is a midfield colossus. He dovetails brilliantly with Ruben Neves, the Portuguese schemer.
It is not just their imported talent, either. Al Dawsari is the standout of their homemade contingent and one of the best in Asia, but Nasser Al Dawsari and Mohammed Kanno deserve plaudits, too.
It just needed a change at the helm – Jesus was summarily axed after their Champions League semi-final exit and has now, remarkably, ended up at their city rivals Al Nassr – and a nudge in the right direction for Hilal to get back on track.
How much of an impact Jesus’ replacement, Simone Inzaghi, will have been able to have in the short time he has been there is debatable. He only met his new charges just ahead of the Club World Cup.
But the Italian coach has certainly not got in the way, as Jesus clearly did towards the end of his spell as coach.
On Inzaghi's watch, the side have looked far more like their old selves at the Club World Cup, equal to the sum of their parts.
And their new manager – who was overseeing Inter Milan in the Uefa Champions League final in his previous assignment before joining them – has appreciated their efforts.
“We had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and we made it,” Inzaghi said after the win in Orlando.
A cute sentiment, no doubt. But Hilal’s fans will be hoping that the best might yet be to come. They have a Club World Cup final to summit now.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Dunki
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The five pillars of Islam
US households add $601bn of debt in 2019
American households borrowed another $601 billion (Dh2.2bn) in 2019, the largest yearly gain since 2007, just before the global financial crisis, according to February data from the New York Federal Reserve Bank.
Fuelled by rising mortgage debt as homebuyers continued to take advantage of low interest rates, the increase last year brought total household debt to a record high, surpassing the previous peak reached in 2008 just before the market crash, according to the report.
Following the 22nd straight quarter of growth, American household debt swelled to $14.15 trillion by the end of 2019, the New York Fed said in its quarterly report.
In the final three months of the year, new home loans jumped to their highest volume since the fourth quarter of 2005, while credit cards and auto loans also added to the increase.
The bad debt load is taking its toll on some households, and the New York Fed warned that more and more credit card borrowers — particularly young people — were falling behind on their payments.
"Younger borrowers, who are disproportionately likely to have credit cards and student loans as their primary form of debt, struggle more than others with on-time repayment," New York Fed researchers said.
The Limehouse Golem
Director: Juan Carlos Medina
Cast: Olivia Cooke, Bill Nighy, Douglas Booth
Three stars
Coal Black Mornings
Brett Anderson
Little Brown Book Group
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier
Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August
Group A
Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar
Group B
UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
UAE group fixtures
Sunday Feb 23, 9.30am, v Iran
Monday Feb 25, 1pm, v Kuwait
Tuesday Feb 26, 9.30am, v Saudi
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza, Rohan Mustafa, Alishan Sharafu, Ansh Tandon, Vriitya Aravind, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Basil Hameed, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Ayaz, Zahoor Khan, Chirag Suri, Sultan Ahmed
ENGLAND TEAM
Alastair Cook, Mark Stoneman, James Vince, Joe Root (captain), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Craig Overton, Stuart Broad, James Anderson
The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
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Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
What is Diwali?
The Hindu festival is at once a celebration of the autumn harvest and the triumph of good over evil, as outlined in the Ramayana.
According to the Sanskrit epic, penned by the sage Valmiki, Diwali marks the time that the exiled king Rama – a mortal with superhuman powers – returned home to the city of Ayodhya with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman, after vanquishing the 10-headed demon Ravana and conquering his kingdom of Lanka. The people of Ayodhya are believed to have lit thousands of earthen lamps to illuminate the city and to guide the royal family home.
In its current iteration, Diwali is celebrated with a puja to welcome the goodness of prosperity Lakshmi (an incarnation of Sita) into the home, which is decorated with diyas (oil lamps) or fairy lights and rangoli designs with coloured powder. Fireworks light up the sky in some parts of the word, and sweetmeats are made (or bought) by most households. It is customary to get new clothes stitched, and visit friends and family to exchange gifts and greetings.
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
