Brazil has expressed an interest in hosting the next version of the FIFA Club World Cup and halfway through this inaugural 32-team version of the competition, it already seems a fit and proper venue for 2029.
FIFA’s new initiative could be going wrong — plenty of games have been played in front of paltry crowds, matches have been interrupted because of climatic conditions, and the blazing heat may yet take its toll on the latter stages of this tournament. But the Club World Cup is being saved, on and off the field, by the six-strong South American contingent.
Fans from Brazil and Argentina have come to the U.S. with pride and passion, sending out a rowdy message to the doubters — this thing matters. Take them away and the whole competition could be falling flat on its face. And the travelling supporters have had plenty to cheer about. With one round of group games to go, five of their teams — all four Brazilian participants, plus River Plate — currently top their groups. And if the remaining team, Boca Juniors, are down in third, then they have played within their limitations with more success than many had feared.
Has the South American performance so far been a surprise? Few saw Botafogo’s epic win over Paris Saint-Germain coming, and Fluminense have surpassed expectations. But, in their contrasting styles, Flamengo and Palmeiras are more or less where they expected to be. Their eyes are fixed firmly on the prize.
The idea behind this new tournament is a dream come true for South American club football. The continent’s version of the UEFA Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, began in 1960 as an explicit response to the birth, and quick consolidation, of the European Cup. Europe has a champion, went the thinking, so now we need to have our own champions and therefore have a way of challenging them to a contest. The quest to take on the best in Europe runs deep in the soul of the South American game.
In recent years, the annual Intercontinental Cup has become something of an embarrassment for South America. They care so much and win so little. But they are at a disadvantage. The action takes place in December, at the end of a gruelling South American season.
This time, everything is running in their favour. Their fans make it feel like a home game, the heat works to their advantage, and they are in mid-season and full of gas. And, like an Olympic athlete preparing for the Games, the big hitters have prepared to hit their peak at this moment.
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Maresca: We knew Flamengo were a good team
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca reacts to Chelsea’s surprising 3-1 loss to Flamengo in the Club World Cup.
Flamengo flirted with disaster in the Libertadores. A last-gasp block from their keeper AgustÃn Rossi prevented what would have been a humiliating group phase exit. It was a calculated risk, with coach Filipe Luis managing his squad in a bid to avoid burn out. And the addition of midfielder Jorginho looks like the missing piece of the jigsaw. The former Serie A and Premier League man can control the tempo and provide crisp passes for the team’s many talented wingers.
Palmeiras are a well-run club who have spent unusually big in search of glory. Striker Vitor Roque, acquired from Barcelona, is the most expensive signing in the history of the Brazilian club game. Others have come in, and the club made sure of keeping Chelsea-bound Estêvão until the end of this competition. They might not have looked especially eye-catching so far, but that is the style of their highly intelligent Portuguese coach Abel Ferreira, who can come across as a younger version of Jose Mourinho.
Palmeiras will take some stopping — and Botafogo showed that the same applies to them with that famous win over the glamorous newly crowned European champions, PSG. Botafogo rode their luck against the Seattle Sounders, but took on PSG with a different system and a different approach, defending with such discipline that they suffered very few moments of real danger. And with Igor Jesus providing a one-man forward line like a modern-day version of Didier Drogba, they were continually able to play out of defence, take a breath and regroup. If nothing else, that match ought to put to bed forever the inaccurate impression of the Brazilian game being a type of Carnaval in boots, with everyone out to express themselves and nobody concerned about defending. The entire Botafogo side marked, ran, tackled, blocked and cleared as if their very lives depended on the outcome.
The big question now is whether they can do the same against Atletico Madrid. All they need to do is avoid a three-goal defeat, and the Pasadena heat would seem to be in their favour. But if they should concede early, then nerves might jangle.
Flamengo have already booked their place in the knockout stages. Botafogo and the others should be fine, but they are in for an interesting few days. If Palmeiras have been drained by the heat of their last game, they could find it harder to defend against Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami CF teammates, and in the case of an (unlikely) defeat they could be vulnerable on goal difference to the winner of the FC Porto-Al Ahly game. And Fluminense, who oscillated between excellent and dreadful in their previous match, will need to avoid defeat against the dangerous Mamelodi Sundowns.
The probability is, then, that there will be four Brazilian teams in the last 16. And two from Argentina? Boca Juniors will be out if Benfica get a draw against Bayern Munich. Assuming Benfica lose, they are caught in a turkey shoot, needing as many goals as possible against Auckland City, with a Nashville stadium to sing them over the line. River Plate’s situation is better, but they face a tricky game against Internazionale. River coach Marcelo Gallardo favours an expansive game, with both full-backs pushing forward. Keeping the team balanced is not easy. They have been picking up lots of cards in midfield, and the entire central trio from Saturday’s game against Monterrey are suspended for the crunch tie against Inter.
But whatever the state of play, River Plate and the other South Americans can be relied upon to roll up their sleeves and fight for the cause, roared on by a wall of sound hitting them from the stands. Whatever happens over the next few days, the images coming out of this tournament will make it impossible ever again for any intelligent person to utter the dreaded phrase, “no one cares about the Club World Cup.”
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