On the eve of Tuesday’s friendly clash with Saudi Arabia, Belgian coach Roberto Martinez warned his talented squad that the World Cup does not respect Golden Generations and that if they want to make history this summer in Russia, the route to success is not through talent and reputation but training and respect.
With a squad containing the likes of Eden Hazard, Toby Alderweireld, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne, expectations are high for Martinez's side going into the month-long tournament, which kicks off on June 14.
Belgium's best performance on the game's biggest stage came in 1986 when they finished fourth after losing to Diego Maradona's Argentina in the semi-finals and they were quarter-finalists four years ago.
With the World Cup just 80 days away, Martinez's preparations are well underway and he insisted he will be giving game-time to as many of his squad as possible against Saudi at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels.
The Spanish coach, however, played down the idea that the current crop can take a victory for granted and that they have a inherent right to win anything.
“I think you understand that when preparing for a World Cup, World Cups don’t respect generations or talent. They respect winning teams and teams that are prepared to work very hard together to become winning teams. That’s what we are,” said Martinez, the former Everton manager.
“We don’t look any further than trying to prepare the players in the best manner possible and this camp is taking us further on our journey towards achieving that. But before the World Cup we have to achieve the mentality of being as good as we can.
"We have many talented individuals, but we do not rely on that; we think only about working hard, improving constantly and making everyone very proud of this group of players.”
Martinez insisted that while he will be treating the match against Saudi with respect, the result is irrelevant as he seeks to focus on attitudes and move closer to finalising the 21-man squad that will compete against Panama, England and Tunisia in Group G.
“Is the game important towards the final 21? Yes, 100 per cent. But will any decision be final? No,” he replied, when asked if a good performance against Saudi Arabia could secure a seat on the plane.
“It is a game where I want to see good attitudes, good performances. It’s not about the final score, it’s the basics of the game. We won’t be making a statement, it’s simply to wrap-up a camp that will leave us feeling very well.”
Eden Hazard, meanwhile, said he believes the experience gained at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where Belgium were eliminated in the quarter-finals — again by Argentina — will stand his team in good stead to go further this year, insisting the goal is to lift the trophy.
“Four years ago was the first World Cup for most of the players,” said the Chelsea attacker. “Now we have that experience so we know what to do. We all now have one target, which is to go to the final, so we’ll see what happens.”
Scoreline
Switzerland 5
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), EsekaiaDranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), JaenBotes (Exiles), KristianStinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), EmosiVacanau (Harlequins), NikoVolavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), ThinusSteyn (Exiles)
THE BIG THREE
NOVAK DJOKOVIC
19 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 5 (2011, 14, 15, 18, 19)
French Open: 2 (2016, 21)
US Open: 3 (2011, 15, 18)
Australian Open: 9 (2008, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21)
Prize money: $150m
ROGER FEDERER
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 8 (2003, 04, 05, 06, 07, 09, 12, 17)
French Open: 1 (2009)
US Open: 5 (2004, 05, 06, 07, 08)
Australian Open: 6 (2004, 06, 07, 10, 17, 18)
Prize money: $130m
RAFAEL NADAL
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 2 (2008, 10)
French Open: 13 (2005, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20)
US Open: 4 (2010, 13, 17, 19)
Australian Open: 1 (2009)
Prize money: $125m
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Jigra
Director: Vasan Bala
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Rated: 3.5/5
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes 306
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 247
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes 234
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull 192
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 148
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull 111
7. Sergio Perez, Force India 82
8. Esteban Ocon, Force India 65
9. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 48
10. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault 34
A Cat, A Man, and Two Women
Junichiro Tamizaki Translated by Paul McCarthy
Daunt Books
Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
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
