The curtain fell on one of the modern greats of European football with the departure of Juventus from the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Sadly for him, he lasted a mere unlucky 13 of the 90 minutes, and, poignantly for him, this sort of premature exit maintained the strange, unfulfilled character of Pavel Nedved's relationship with the world's most prestigious club competition.
Nedved, a former European Footballer of the Year, will retire at the end of the season never having played in the final of a Champions League. He has had some epic campaigns in the tournament, but too often left the stage early.
In the first leg of Chelsea versus Juventus, itself a minor epic, Nedved nearly scored a goal at Stamford Bridge that would have changed the dynamic of the tie. His shot, almost the last kick of the match, whistled just wide of his Czech compatriot Peter Cech's goal. About half an hour later, Nedved announced that if Chelsea eliminated Juve from the competition, the top stage would never be seeing his mop of blond hair again. At 36-years-old, he confirmed, he was ready to finish his career at the end of the season.
The European swansong was messy, brave and brief. At the Stadio Olimpico, Nedved took a blow to the head after four minutes, colliding with one of the sturdiest thighs in football, that of Michael Essien. He wandered to the touchline with an icepack on top of his trademark 1970s hairstyle.
He returned to the action, only to take another battering, from Nicolas Anelka, after eight minutes that left him clutching his midriff. He exited again, although he refused the offer of a mobile stretcher carriage.
And for second time, he re-entered the action. The match had hardly begun and Nedved already resembled one of those all-action movie heroes who are badly hurt in film battles and still come back for more.
But after his 13 minutes it was clear courage could not overcome injury. He appeared on the edge of tears when the Juve coach Claudio Ranieri replaced him. The fans had paid their own tributes, with dedicated banners to a footballer who has served Juve for eight years, including the one when he stuck with them in Serie B.
They knew it might be The Czech Fury's final European night in black and white stripes. They will miss him, as Juventus missed him for the last 77 minutes of the 2-2 draw against Chelsea.
"Losing Nedved was a blow to us," sighed Ranieri afterwards. What Serie A will lose at the end of the season is Nedved's amazing energy. A former Juventus head coach, Marcello Lippi once said of him: "I think he runs even in his sleep." Nedved has been running almost non-stop since the early 1990s.
He was a losing finalist with the Czech Republic at the European Championship in 1996. He scored the winning goal for Lazio in the 1999 European Cup-Winners Cup final. But, in the Champions League, he has been a nearly man.
In 2003, the year he was chosen for the Balon D'Or, he missed playing for Juve in the final after a yellow card in the semi-final against Real Madrid.
In Juventus's last two campaigns, he has left early, sent off against Arsenal in 2006, injured against Chelsea in 2009.
Those yellow and red cards were not entirely out of character. Aggression has always been a feature of his game. So has delicacy in delivering passes. This thoroughly modern footballer, industrious and inventive, sustained his high standards right into his 37th year. Word is Juventus have earmarked him for a coaching role if he wants it. He will be a fine example to younger footballers. Famous for his dedication and hard work, Nedved always recoiled from the trappings of stardom. Fashions passed him by, his haircut never altered.
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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
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
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
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The%20specs
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Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
SPECS
Engine: 4-litre V8 twin-turbo
Power: 630hp
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: 8-speed Tiptronic automatic
Price: From Dh599,000
On sale: Now
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
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Profile
Co-founders of the company: Vilhelm Hedberg and Ravi Bhusari
Launch year: In 2016 ekar launched and signed an agreement with Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi. In January 2017 ekar launched in Dubai in a partnership with the RTA.
Number of employees: Over 50
Financing stage: Series B currently being finalised
Investors: Series A - Audacia Capital
Sector of operation: Transport
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Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
The specs: 2018 Audi Q5/SQ5
Price, base: Dh183,900 / Dh249,000
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder / 3.0L, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic / Eight-speed automatic
Power: 252hp @ 5,000rpm / 354hp @ 5,400rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,600rpm / 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy: combined 7.2L / 100km / 8.3L / 100km
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
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
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.
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
Directed by: Shaka King
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Lakeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons
Four stars