On parched ground on the outskirts of Niamey, Frederic Acosta carefully assembles his tools. He has been to kiosks in the capital of his native Niger, asking sweet stall holders for the conical display units they use to stack lollipops. He has popped in at bicycle repair shops, scrounging old inner tubes.
Acosta is a coach with the Niger Football Federation. He was capped by the national team, in the side that fans in one of Africa's poorest countries recall as one of Niger's finest because they finished just behind Algeria in qualifying for the 1982 World Cup.
Some 30 years later, Niger has new idols: the players who on Saturday in Gabon will for the first time ever represent them at an African Cup of Nations.
Acosta can take some credit, having worked with up-and-coming Niger footballers for a generation.
He collects lollipop display units to use as practice pitch cones; his worn rubber inner tubes are for marking lines in various training drills.
"In other countries, the federation would order in specialist equipment," Acosta told this reporter on a previous visit. "I make these savings so my players can eat better."
Nutrition is important in a nation which ranks second to last on the UN's worldwide Human Development Index and which has suffered serious drought in the last five years.
Neither Acosta not Harouna Doula, the head coach of the senior Niger squad, expect towering Goliaths to emerge from the broad expanse of Sahel they call home.
"In Niger we are not generally big and physically powerful," Acosta said. "So, we need to find our best style of play, to be clever with the ball."
Niger were certainly clever enough in qualifying not only to finish ahead in their group of Egypt, the African Cup of Nations winners three times from 2006 to 2010, but also South Africa, the continent's wealthiest state.
Theirs is a fetching underdog story, although in the bizarre Who's Who of the 28th Cup of Nations, there are almost as many underdogs as top cats.
Take Botswana, the fellow debutants, without anybody resembling a superstar in their midst and yet one of the first teams to steam past the post, ahead of Tunisia and Togo, who were both competing in a World Cup finals five and half years ago.
The 2012 tournament was already novel for taking place in countries outside the African aristocracy.
Oil-rich Gabon and Equatorial Guinea were not to know they would be hosting the aftermath of a footballing set of coups, deciphering how Niger, with a population a 10th the size of Nigeria's have qualified and the Super Eagles have not, wondering how come Samuel Eto'o's Cameroon did not make it but Burkina Faso did.
And trying to fathom how Egypt could plunge so far so fast and yet Libya who, despite playing "home" fixtures abroad because of war, progressed from a Cup of Nations qualifying tournament for only the second time in their history.
Optimists will tell you that in Africa standards have risen, which means the old establishment gets punished more sharply for complacency.
Pessimists will bemoan how the likes of Nigeria and Cameroon seem to be going backwards at senior national level, and always prepare badly.
Certainly South Africa did that. Not much more than a year after their magnificent job of organising the continent's first World Cup, South Africa's coaching staff failed to read properly the regulations on qualifying and thought, after a point in their last match, they had enough to make it at Niger's expense to the tournament. Embarrassingly, they had got their sums wrong.
So much for the absent heavyweights.
Of more concern to those hoping for a better quality of football than was seen at the last Cup of Nations, the Angola event horribly stained by the fatal shooting in an ambush of Togolese team staff, are the individuals who shun the event.
Ghana will start as second favourites. Were they to line up with Chelsea's Michael Essien and AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng in midfield, they might be higher than that.
Both players have "retired" from international commitments.
Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mali will give the Cup of Nations the iconic figures on which some of its global popularity depends, the likes of Chelsea's Didier Drogba, Newcastle United's Demba Ba and Barcelona's Seydou Keita.
But the finals will be characterised by a higher number than usual of footballers employed not by clubs in Europe but in Africa.
The presence of Niger, Botswana and Libya - not great exporters of footballers to Europe's leading leagues - guarantees that. That may yet turn out to be rather refreshing.
sports@thenational.ae
The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer
Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000
Engine 3.6L V6
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm
Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km
Vikram%20Vedha
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
About Seez
Company name/date started: Seez, set up in September 2015 and the app was released in August 2017
Founder/CEO name(s): Tarek Kabrit, co-founder and chief executive, and Andrew Kabrit, co-founder and chief operating officer
Based in: Dubai, with operations also in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon
Sector: Search engine for car buying, selling and leasing
Size: (employees/revenue): 11; undisclosed
Stage of funding: $1.8 million in seed funding; followed by another $1.5m bridge round - in the process of closing Series A
Investors: Wamda Capital, B&Y and Phoenician Funds
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The specs
Engine: Direct injection 4-cylinder 1.4-litre
Power: 150hp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: From Dh139,000
On sale: Now
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday Celta Vigo v Villarreal (midnight kick-off UAE)
Saturday Sevilla v Real Sociedad (4pm), Atletico Madrid v Athletic Bilbao (7.15pm), Granada v Barcelona (9.30pm), Osasuna v Real Madrid (midnight)
Sunday Levante v Eibar (4pm), Cadiz v Alaves (7.15pm), Elche v Getafe (9.30pm), Real Valladolid v Valencia (midnight)
Monday Huesca v Real Betis (midnight)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20profile%20
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Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
The specs
Engine: 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 380hp at 5,800rpm
Torque: 530Nm at 1,300-4,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Price: From Dh299,000 ($81,415)
On sale: Now
Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
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.
'Joker'
Directed by: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
Rating: Five out of five stars
The five pillars of Islam
The specs: Macan Turbo
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October
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
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6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m
Winner Bella Fever, Dane O’Neill (jockey), Mike de Kock (trainer).
7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Woven, Harry Bentley, David Simcock.
7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
Winner Fore Left, William Buick, Doug O’Neill.
8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner Rusumaat, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Benbatl, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Art Du Val, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Beyond Reason, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
Europa League group stage draw
Group A: Villarreal, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Astana, Slavia Prague.
Group B: Dynamo Kiev, Young Boys, Partizan Belgrade, Skenderbeu.
Group C: Sporting Braga, Ludogorets, Hoffenheim, Istanbul Basaksehir.
Group D: AC Milan, Austria Vienna , Rijeka, AEK Athens.
Group E: Lyon, Everton, Atalanta, Apollon Limassol.
Group F: FC Copenhagen, Lokomotiv Moscow, Sheriff Tiraspol, FC Zlin.
Group G: Vitoria Plzen, Steaua Bucarest, Hapoel Beer-Sheva, FC Lugano.
Group H: Arsenal, BATE Borisov, Cologne, Red Star Belgrade.
Group I: Salzburg, Marseille, Vitoria Guimaraes, Konyaspor.
Group J: Athletic Bilbao, Hertha Berlin, Zorya Luhansk, Ostersund.
Group K: Lazio, Nice, Zulte Waregem, Vitesse Arnhem.
Group L: Zenit St Petersburg, Real Sociedad, Rosenborg, Vardar
Christopher Robin
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Haley Atwell, Jim Cummings, Peter Capaldi
Three stars
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
