As the "World Cup" of the club promoted by FIFA, the superstars sacrificed their summer vacation and made a special trip to the New World Club Cup where they "work overtime". Although their reputation is very beautiful, they still expose the background of the "grass team" from time to time. Apart from the continuous high temperatures and the heavy rainstorms of up to 6 halved matches, as well as the indescribable ticketing, security and referees, the wealthy families in endless mode are also listless.
Although there are ten thousand reluctances, under the stimulation of the world championship title and huge prizes, the Club World Cup, which forms the "second half of the death zone", is destined to be more exciting as the future goes, and the 1/8 finals are full of highlights. Will FIFA's previous series of open and secret guarantees make the slightly dull Club World Cup change?
overtime? I got
From the World Cup to the European Cup, at least the top two in the group can ensure promotion. In the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 European Cup, it gave birth to an unprecedented "last round of the Chinese team". Many teams that have already landed either use substitute lineups to calculate the knockout route or deliberately lose the game to avoid strong enemies. The Club World Cup will naturally not be able to survive.
Just today and yesterday, Bayern and Juventus personally demonstrated to fans what it means to "not pretending". Faced with the theoretical strongest Benfica of this group, Kompani rotated most of the starting lineup, and the result was that Sane, who had been confirmed to not renew his contract, was single-handedly spitting out a fancy cake. The Bundesliga champion lost 0-1 and fell to second place in the group.
And Juventus was not much better this morning. They were tied at the first half and soon became defeated. At most, they were 1-5 behind. The players' faces were numb. Only coach Tudor's eyes were so fierce that they could "knife". Even after the game, they shook hands with Guardiola perfunctorily.
Of course, the two teams have their own difficult sutras to recite. Bayern was rejected in the market in various ways, and sports director Ebert was recalled to Germany overnight for accountability, and the troubles for senior executives were obviously greater than losing to the Club World Cup. As for Juventus, they are also in a big change in management, and they are reluctant to renew their head coaches, and the signing plan has not made any progress. It is expected that the team will play worse and worse in each game.
After all, even the Champions League champion Paris Saint-Germain gave Botafogo 3 points before the final battle; Real Madrid's first match against Riyadh Crescent was also tied by the "Asian Galaxy Battleship". Losing is obviously not a big deal for the giants.
Compared with the European giants who are playing in the game, South American teams that are half at home and have a large number of fans cheering, they are very likely to turn away and counterattack. Especially the four Brazilian League teams, all qualifying, and not losing the disadvantage against European teams, it also shows the profound foundation of the football kingdom. What they lack has never been geniuses, but reasonable organization.
As for the two A-Leagues Boka and He Piao who have been eliminated, although they have been trapped by the group situation and failed to go further, they have really put their strength on their opponents. The two teams have won 5 red cards in 6 group games. The "iron-blood" of not steaming buns to make a comeback. Although the appearance is really bad, they have no choice in their attitude.
Compared with the European and American giants' conquest, Asian, African and Oceania teams unfortunately became cash machines. Urawa Red Diamonds and Ulsan HD, both ranked last in 0 points. Last year's Asian king Ain was 11 times fed by Juventus and Manchester City in the first two games. Although the only semi-professional team in the top 32 scored 1 point in the final match, they lost to Bayern 0-10, setting a new single-game score record since the founding of the Club World Cup.
Some people become fish, while others take advantage of the situation. As the host, Miami International, which has the advantage of grouping and almost locked in the top spot in the final battle, is not only the only one that has successfully passed the level of the third team in the major league, but also makes FIFA's painstaking arrangements come true. Infantino is not inferior to Blatt and Avilaner at all in terms of human nature and the trade-offs of interests.
"Upgraded Version" warm-up match, there are many problems
The countdown to the first anniversary of the US, Canada and Mexico World Cup, the 2025 World Club Cup is obviously in the name of the club, and the reality of the World Cup. Schedule, venue, and operation are all rehearsal levels. However, many intercontinental sports events held in the United States over the years have repeatedly proved that Americans have always been "big" in the face of major competitions. In the group stage, the first thing FIFA has to face is the too empty court. Although the low-priced tickets and temporary free football watching groups in the opening game made the attendance of Hard Rock Stadium very impressive. Although the first round of group stage attracted a total of 556,000 live spectators, with an average of 34,800 people per game, most stadiums started at 60,000, and less than half of the attendance rate always made the stands empty.
The most extreme case happened when Ulsan HD vs. Mamelodi, and two unwelcome Asian and African teams faced each other. The official number of spectators was only 3,412. In addition to the opening matches, there are only advanced events such as Paris vs. Atletico Madrid and Manchester City vs. Juventus.
At the beginning of the Club World Cup, staff at the FIFA U.S. branch suggested choosing more relatively small stadiums commonly used by American professional football teams, so that the attendance rate will be higher and the atmosphere will be more lively, but Infantino believed that the stadium can also be full and can bring more income.
Facts have proved that locals understand local fans better, and this has also put the enrollment rate of the expanded version of the World Cup. Will American fans who are used to top events generously donate to new World Cups such as Uzbekistan and Jordan to buy tickets to enter the game?
What upsets Infantino more than attendance may be the strong convective that always comes unexpectedly. There are 48 group matches in the Club World Cup, and as many as 6 games are delayed due to thunderstorm warnings. Of course, this is related to the local sports weather warning mechanism. In the event of thunderstorm weather, all outdoor events within a radius of 10 miles must be stopped unconditionally.
Over the past years, when European giants rushed to North America to warm up, the weather was a big enemy, and it was common for the game to be cut into pieces in half. But for the audience, it's an extra torture. But the number of games that don’t rain is hard to describe. Under the high temperature, the game must often be interrupted to hydrate, and the audience exposed to the sun in the stands is even more painful.
But what makes the players break the defense the most is obviously not the audience and the weather, but the security. After the final game between Inter Milan and River Plate, the loser Akunya, a player who lost the red eye, chased Dumfries all the way. No security personnel intervened at the scene and separated the two. In the end, Akunya was knocked to the ground by his teammates, which avoided a full-scale war.
Such farces, which happen in any sports event, are destined to be laughing stocks and black spots. Many teams in the Club World Cup have "no complaints in the past and have had grudges recently" are still the case. Many old enemies will inevitably meet in the World Cup next year. Security continues to "not care" mode, is it OK? In the 1st quarter final, there are old grudges and new grudges. After the first stage of the melee, the upcoming 1st quarter final of the Club World Cup finally made the fans who stayed up late worth the ticket price, especially in the second half of which has gathered many strong teams, there are almost every game with great highlights.
Because he has only played for three teams in his career, the encounter between Miami International and Paris Saint-Germain after Barcelona was absent is undoubtedly due to Messi's identity as an old friend in Paris. Just after Miami International qualified, many grievances about Messi and Paris Saint-Germain spread wildly on social media. After all, this is the first time Messi faced his old master in his career.
For most Messi fans, the years in Paris are a past that they don't want to mention. Here, Messi is getting further and further away from the Champions League, and there is not even an official celebration ceremony after winning the World Cup. He was suspended for absent from training for commercial activities, which further breaks the relationship between the two sides. It is very different from Barcelona, who is Nianzizai's parent team. Paris is mixed with too complex emotions to Messi. In terms of strength comparison, the new European champion and the FA League regular season champion are obviously one in the sky and one in the ground. Miami International Group Games are like walking on thin ice, and the gap in strength can be seen from the naked eye. Although Paris Saint-Germain did not show its corresponding dominance in the group stage, it entered the knockout stage. Dembele, who had previously missed due to injury, is about to return.
The former number one winner of the Golden Globes, the most popular with the current number one winner, and was also a Barcelona teammate. In the first leg of the 2019 Champions League semi-finals, Dembele was the biggest foreshadowing before the "Anfield Miracle". Now Messi has moved to North America. Will he not let him go if he hits the nemesis?
Another game worth watching is naturally a theoretical strong dialogue - Real Madrid VS Juventus. Due to Mbappe's condition and the running-in cost of many new players after entering the team, Real Madrid's "start" in the group stage is not good, but it can be seen that one game is better than another in three games.
On the other hand, Juventus is a typical high and low end. The team's "most team" limit can be seen from the naked eye. Facing Manchester City, which had won the Champions League in the Champions League, the defeated Zebras is really unfamiliar. The emotional rise and fall of both sides may determine the trend of the game more than the strength itself.
In the first half, Manchester City, who won all three games, faced the Asian only Riyadh Crescent who qualified unbeaten, and was also full of expectations. After giving up the nameless pass, Blue Moon played more simple and sharply, and completed the preliminary trial of the new player in three group matches. Haaland and Foden both recovered their form, minimizing the morale fluctuation after De Bruyne left.
As for Riyadh Crescent, under the loose rules of Club World Cup without player restrictions, it is almost a strong European team with several Saudi foreign players. Inzaghi's guidance made this "Asian Real Madrid" that failed to make up for the stars as they wished, playing more pragmatic and efficient. The group stage has proven that they have the strength and confidence to compete with European teams.
In the Champions League final two years ago, Manchester City, with an All-Star lineup, defeated Inter Milan with Rodri's final victory, and won the Champions League for the first time in the team's history, which was also the peak of the battle between Guardiola and Inzaghi Jr. Now, the stage has changed and the team has changed. The grandmasters of the passing and control and anti-reversal genres are always watched and are always new.
(Bumps/Yang Jian)