ABU DHABI // A match that began heaving late on Saturday night and continued to sweat profusely early into Sunday ended with this UAE side tossing a fistful of eminently winnable World Cup points, and their fans unloading plastic cartons, into the twilight zone.
If the local followers lost their decorum in defeat, the UAE have clearly lost the initiative.
In the witching hour on Sunday morning, Bruno Metsu's side sustained a ghoulish defeat.
Against a mechanical, but highly mundane North Korea side, the home side were found wanting in terms of the guile or the gumption required to take out a set of opponents unwilling to yield in time.
A couple of forays forward in the second half prompted goals from Choe Kum Chol after 70 minutes and a fine raking shot by the substitute An Chol Hyok in the 80th.
It winded the UAE on a night of no wind. With nine men plopped behind the ball and often only one man promoted to sustain their attacking interests in the first half, Korea were not so much an iron curtain as a sturdy set of blackout blinds put up to darken the leading lights of the home side.
In an Al Jazira stadium that is only half-built due to construction work, the UAE were bitpart players. Whatever notions are constructed about UAE players, such as the stocky attacker Ismail Matar, participating in an elite European league, this team does not seem to possess the assets for a major tournament.
The UAE's effort probably did not merit defeat, but they wound up being a posse of honest triers. They probed feverishly in the first period, but fell into a mire of overplaying the ball. One extra pass, would find one extra Korean defender. The solitary goal they managed arrived courtesy of Basheer Saeed's rangy late shot that deflected into the net.
If only they had been aware of the benefits of such a policy earlier in the evening when Korea had reserved the right to retreat.
The visiting fans cut vivid images in their raspberry red tops, but their side's idea of sabre-rattling in the first period was to cross the halfway line.
If Saudi Arabia ransack Abu Dhabi and clasp three points on Wednesday, it is all over for the UAE. Any credible aspirations tend to disappear when you suffer successive home defeats.
The question for Bruno Metsu before his side visit Pyongyang next March is: how do you solve a problem like Korea? A few of the finer points of strategy will tell you that pace must be injected in the final third, but it could be a worthless journey for the UAE by then.
One gets the impression that Korea could have enjoyed a richer night if they discarded their guarded approach. They have only lost one goal in seven World Cup qualifiers, and will face South Korea on Wednesday in neutral Shanghai in a hearty mood.
Whether or not the horrific humidity stifled either side here is irrelevant. The UAE were fit enough of body, but not of mind.
Korea turned up and opted to play in a style that was similar to one of those old home-and-away European Cup matches when the away side would darken one's door, hit on the break and take whatever came their way.
It worked to perfection for Steaua Bucharest in 1986 as they shut down Barcelona in the European Cup final in Seville to win on penalties, and it seems to fit snugly into the strategy of this Korea side.
The shaggy-haired Metsu and his squad have traipsed around various training camps in Europe this summer, and knew for months what would confront them. Even on Friday, he extolled soundbites about the logistical problems of downing several men playing deeply.
The late former Dutch national coach Rinus Michels once reflected on his Holland side, that included Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, being held to a 0-0 draw with Egypt in the 1990 World Cup finals, and commented that when one side is trying to play and the other side is playing for a draw, you do not have have a true game of football.
But then it was Michels who also said: "Professional football is something like war. Whoever behaves too properly is lost."
It is worth adding this was also a wretched evening for watching. These 90 minutes, or nearing 100 minutes, when you consider the referee added nine minutes to cover time-wasting and substitutions amid the plastic hurtling down on the Korea players, was a trial in itself, like sitting in a sauna with your clothes on.
It is utter nonsense to suggest the UAE will ever host a World Cup, or a summer Olympic Games. No amount of cash can alter a climate that would be cruel to athletes. Camel racing in Antarctica would be a more viable prospect.
One appreciates why the Fifa president Sepp Blatter commented that he would be suspicious of any bid from the UAE to host the World Cup finals.
Their fans, whether tooled up with plastic cartons or not, are learning that trying to qualify for such an elite tournament is a more weighty and relevant assignment.
@Email:dkane@thenational.ae
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
