Liverpool // Normality and Liverpool parted company some time ago, but this was a surreal end to an unreal week nonetheless. The memories of Northampton will not be exorcised quickly; not when Liverpool contrive to draw 2-2 at Anfield again. Dissent and disappointment are twin ailments. Before the familiar sight of supporters protesting against Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the owners, there was the demoralising spectacle of Liverpool being outplayed again.
The problems are not confined to the second-string side who were embarrassed by Northampton; Sunderland were tactically superior, more cohesive and more convincing than Roy Hodgson's first X1 for much of the match. But for Dirk Kuyt's candidate for the strangest goal of the season and a rather more typical Steven Gerrard equaliser, it would have been a third reverse in seven days. As it is, the loss of two points indicates that securing a Champions League place is ever more unlikely.
Gifted an early goal, Liverpool failed to capitalise. They had neither the ruthlessness nor the confidence to sustain that fine start and, as the match progressed, their reliance on individual inspiration was apparent. It yielded an equaliser when Fernando Torres provided a fine impression of a right winger, bending a ball in for Gerrard, arriving with dynamism, to head beyond Simon Mignolet. It was altogether more conventional than their first goal, instigated by Torres, allying speed of thought with his pace, he reacted when Michael Turner backheeled the ball towards Mignolet.
While Sunderland assumed the central defender was letting the goalkeeper take the free kick they had been awarded, Torres took the view that Turner had restarted play. He advanced towards goal, hesitated and then passed to Kuyt, who scored with ease. "A piece of quick thinking on the part of Torres and Kuyt," Hodgson said. Steve Bruce disagreed. "It was 25 yards from the incident from where the free kick should have been taken," the Sunderland manager said. "The referee had his back to it. He's got it wrong."
Sunderland's anger was only alleviated a little when the referee's next decision favoured them. The excellent Ahmed Elmohamady's cross hit the raised arm of Christian Poulsen. Darren Bent drilled the resulting penalty under Pepe Reina. "I don't subscribe to accidental handballs," Hodgson said. "For me, penalties should have to be intentional." Being dependent upon one player for goals is not confined to Liverpool. Sunderland's seventh, and Bent's fifth, league strike of the season followed when he headed in Nedum Onuoha's cross. A dawdling Glen Johnson was defeated by Bent before Reina.
Following a high-class display against Arsenal in last week's 1-1 draw, Sunderland could again count themselves unfortunate to emerge with only a point. Jordan Henderson showed assurance in midfield, the much-mocked Titus Bramble defiance in defence. "All we are going to talk about now is this stupid goal," lamented Bruce. "The team performance was fantastic." It could have yielded more. Hodgson argued that an early, and classy, Torres goal should not have been disallowed for offside and there was a late siege, with substitutes David Ngog and Daniel Agger almost scoring in added time.
The result leaves Liverpool in 15th place. "I don't think we are playing like a team in fourth or fifth place at the moment," Hodgson admitted. They are not. The concern is that they haven't been for 13 months. sports@thenational.ae
Biography
Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day
Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour
Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour
Best vacation: Returning home to China
Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument
Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems
FIXTURES
Monday, January 28
Iran v Japan, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Tuesday, January 29
UAEv Qatar, Mohamed Bin Zayed Stadium (6pm)
Friday, February 1
Final, Zayed Sports City Stadium (6pm)
The biog
Mission to Seafarers is one of the largest port-based welfare operators in the world.
It provided services to around 200 ports across 50 countries.
They also provide port chaplains to help them deliver professional welfare services.
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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.
Important questions to consider
1. Where on the plane does my pet travel?
There are different types of travel available for pets:
- Manifest cargo
- Excess luggage in the hold
- Excess luggage in the cabin
Each option is safe. The feasibility of each option is based on the size and breed of your pet, the airline they are traveling on and country they are travelling to.
2. What is the difference between my pet traveling as manifest cargo or as excess luggage?
If traveling as manifest cargo, your pet is traveling in the front hold of the plane and can travel with or without you being on the same plane. The cost of your pets travel is based on volumetric weight, in other words, the size of their travel crate.
If traveling as excess luggage, your pet will be in the rear hold of the plane and must be traveling under the ticket of a human passenger. The cost of your pets travel is based on the actual (combined) weight of your pet in their crate.
3. What happens when my pet arrives in the country they are traveling to?
As soon as the flight arrives, your pet will be taken from the plane straight to the airport terminal.
If your pet is traveling as excess luggage, they will taken to the oversized luggage area in the arrival hall. Once you clear passport control, you will be able to collect them at the same time as your normal luggage. As you exit the airport via the ‘something to declare’ customs channel you will be asked to present your pets travel paperwork to the customs official and / or the vet on duty.
If your pet is traveling as manifest cargo, they will be taken to the Animal Reception Centre. There, their documentation will be reviewed by the staff of the ARC to ensure all is in order. At the same time, relevant customs formalities will be completed by staff based at the arriving airport.
4. How long does the travel paperwork and other travel preparations take?
This depends entirely on the location that your pet is traveling to. Your pet relocation compnay will provide you with an accurate timeline of how long the relevant preparations will take and at what point in the process the various steps must be taken.
In some cases they can get your pet ‘travel ready’ in a few days. In others it can be up to six months or more.
5. What vaccinations does my pet need to travel?
Regardless of where your pet is traveling, they will need certain vaccinations. The exact vaccinations they need are entirely dependent on the location they are traveling to. The one vaccination that is mandatory for every country your pet may travel to is a rabies vaccination.
Other vaccinations may also be necessary. These will be advised to you as relevant. In every situation, it is essential to keep your vaccinations current and to not miss a due date, even by one day. To do so could severely hinder your pets travel plans.
Source: Pawsome Pets UAE
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
Company profile: buybackbazaar.com
Name: buybackbazaar.com
Started: January 2018
Founder(s): Pishu Ganglani and Ricky Husaini
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech, micro finance
Initial investment: $1 million
