Group E favourites France look like a team in form and should go far in the tournament. OK, so it was only Honduras, but they beat their opponents in style on Sunday night in Porto Alegre. Here are some takeaways from the game.
Pogba is France's wild card in more ways than one
One of the biggest mistakes Sir Alex Ferguson made as Manchester United manager was allowing Paul Pogba to leave the club. Granted, there were certain circumstances behind Pogba, 21, wanting to leave the club, but his subsequent performances for Juventus and his country have marked him out as one of the best young players in the world.
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He could have been sent off on Sunday night, for lashing out at Honduras' Wilson Palacios after the Stoke City man had trampled over his knee. David Beckham was shown red for England in 1998 for a similar incident against Argentina.
But Pogba has it all – pace, control, technique, composure. And he didn't even have to break sweat against Honduras.
This tournament is Pogba's chance to break out, show United fans what they missed and turn himself from incredible prospect into bona fide star. The game seems to come so easily to him and you sense he has a huge performance in his locker at some point in this tournament.
France are likely to qualify from the group, probably as winners. That means they will face the second-placed team in Argentina's group, most likely either Bosnia or Nigeria. A game they should win. It looks like they are on a collision course for a quarter-final with Germany, Portugal or Belgium. Most likely Germany. That will be Pogba's moment.
Ribery won't be missed by France
When Franck Ribery pulled out of the tournament with a back injury, France's chances of winning the World Cup seemed to take a fatal blow. The Bayern Munich forward was the team's main creator, their one superstar. Only Colombia, with Radamel Falcao, could point to a similar injury blow pre-tournament.
But Ribery's absence could be a blessing in disguise for France. Yes, they'd love to have him in the team still, but now teams don't have one man to focus their defensive attention on.
France thrashed Jamaica 8-0 in a warm-up and they showed some of that attacking verve on Sunday night too. It took them a while to get going, and they were helped by Palacios' red card, but this was still an impressive French display. And two men stood out – Antoine Griezmann and Mathieu Valbuena.
The pair are both 5ft 6 ins, both have a low centre of gravity and provide the same creative threat as Ribery. Griezmann only has five caps but the Real Sociedad man already has three goals – his link-up play between the midfield and centre-forward Karim Benzema was impressive. In tighter games than this, his deft layoffs could be key to unlocking defences.
Likewise, Valbuena is an assist waiting to happen. He got three in one warm-up game against Norway. One run in the first half summed up his threat, when he drove at the Honduras defence, holding off two men and almost playing a perfect one-two with Benzema. He looked impossible to tackle.
The pair are a fine balance to France's physical set of centre midfielders.
France may have lost their stardust, but they are playing like a team with all the pieces in the right place.
Madrid have helped Benzema look sharp
Karim Benzema was a let-down for France at Euro 2012. On Sunday, he looked incredibly confident. A season playing up front with Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale at Real Madrid seems to have done wonders for his morale. He looks to have benefited from knowing he was first-choice for club and, for country, the whole team is built around setting up chances for him.
He scored two against Honduras, caused an own goal and looks to have a very good chance of being top scorer.
Honduras were naive and reckless
France's manager Didier Deschamps was worried about Honduras' physical style before the game and he was justified. The Hondurans seemed to have one plan – to kick France into submission. They had one man sent off and another booked, but half their team should have gone into the book, there were that many bad tackles.
After fine performances by Mexico and Costa Rica, Honduras let the Concacaf region down with an industrial style of play.
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
WHAT%20MACRO%20FACTORS%20ARE%20IMPACTING%20META%20TECH%20MARKETS%3F
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20S24%20ULTRA
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
THE DETAILS
Kaala
Dir: Pa. Ranjith
Starring: Rajinikanth, Huma Qureshi, Easwari Rao, Nana Patekar
Rating: 1.5/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Women%E2%80%99s%20T20%20World%20Cup%20Qualifier
%3Cp%3EFrom%20September%2018-25%2C%20Abu%20Dhabi%0D.%20The%20two%20finalists%20advance%20to%20the%20main%20event%20in%20South%20Africa%20in%20February%202023%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3EGroup%20A%3A%20United%20States%2C%20Ireland%2C%20Scotland%2C%20Bangladesh%0D%3Cbr%3EGroup%20B%3A%20UAE%2C%20Thailand%2C%20Zimbabwe%2C%20Papua%20New%20Guinea%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3EUAE%20group%20fixtures%3A%0D%3Cbr%3ESept%2018%2C%203pm%2C%20Zayed%20Cricket%20Stadium%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Thailand%0D%3Cbr%3ESept%2019%2C%203pm%2C%20Tolerance%20Oval%20-%20PNG%20v%20UAE%0D%3Cbr%3ESept%2021%2C%207pm%2C%20Tolerance%20Oval%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Zimbabwe%0D%3Cbr%3E%20%0D%3Cbr%3EUAE%20squad%3A%20Chaya%20Mughal%20(captain)%2C%20Esha%20Oza%2C%20Kavisha%20Kumari%2C%20Rinitha%20Rajith%2C%20Rithika%20Rajith%2C%20Khushi%20Sharma%2C%20Theertha%20Satish%2C%20Lavanya%20Keny%2C%20Priyanjali%20Jain%2C%20Suraksha%20Kotte%2C%20Natasha%20Cherriath%2C%20Indhuja%20Nandakumar%2C%20Vaishnave%20Mahesh%2C%20Siya%20Gokhale%2C%20Samaira%20Dharnidharka%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Grand Slam Los Angeles results
Men:
56kg – Jorge Nakamura
62kg – Joao Gabriel de Sousa
69kg – Gianni Grippo
77kg – Caio Soares
85kg – Manuel Ribamar
94kg – Gustavo Batista
110kg – Erberth Santos
Women:
49kg – Mayssa Bastos
55kg – Nathalie Ribeiro
62kg – Gabrielle McComb
70kg – Thamara Silva
90kg – Gabrieli Pessanha
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Celta Vigo 2
Castro (45'), Aspas (82')
Barcelona 2
Dembele (36'), Alcacer (64')
Red card: Sergi Roberto (Barcelona)
The biog
Name: Mohammed Imtiaz
From: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Arrived in the UAE: 1976
Favourite clothes to make: Suit
Cost of a hand-made suit: From Dh550
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The%20specs
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Company%20profile
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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
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo
Power: 240hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 390Nm at 3,000rpm
Transmission: eight-speed auto
Price: from Dh122,745
On sale: now
Series result
1st ODI Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets
2nd ODI Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets
3rd ODI Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets
4th ODI Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets
5th ODI Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Company Profile
Company name: Fine Diner
Started: March, 2020
Co-founders: Sami Elayan, Saed Elayan and Zaid Azzouka
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and food delivery
Initial investment: Dh75,000
Investor: Dtec Startupbootcamp
Future plan: Looking to raise $400,000
Total sales: Over 1,000 deliveries in three months
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Racecard
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The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe
Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians