Oman Daily Observer

Old-style Club World Cup staggers on for another year

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ABU DHABI: Unloved even by the federation which organises it, Fifa’s old-style Club World Cup gets under way on Wednesday and it is hard to imagine any other outcome than Real Madrid winning for the third time in a row.

Fifa President Gianni Infantino has ambitious plans to replace the competitio­n with a 24-team event held every four years, but until those come to fruition, the contest will stagger on with its unwieldy format for at least one more year.

The seven-team competitio­n features the champion club sides from each of the six continents, plus the domestic champions of host nation United Arab Emirates.

Participan­ts range from the semiprofes­sionals of Team Wellington, winners of the Oceania Champions League, to the millionair­es of European champions Real Madrid where even the reserves are full internatio­nals.

In principle, the Club World Cup is a laudable and logical idea but has been overtaken by the economics of modern football where nearly all the top players gravitate to Europe.

Consequent­ly, the best South American, African and Asian talents play against, rather than for teams from their own continent. European sides have won 10 out of 13 times since the tournament started in its current format in 2005.

In contrast, the old Interconti­nental Cup, played either as a one-off or a two-leg tie between the European and South American champions, produced 22 wins for South America and 21 wins for Europe between 1960 and 2004.

Infantino has said that the competitio­n needs to be “more interestin­g” and “more attractive” although his plans have run into opposition from European soccer body Uefa.

A task force is currently examining possible formats and dates for Infantino’s proposed competitio­n.

EUROPE’S BEST Even so, the current setup still attracts interest from outside Europe where teams and their fans dream of the chance to measure themselves against Europe’s best.

The competitio­n kicks off on Wednesday with a preliminar­y round match between Al Ain and Team Wellington, who have ended Auckland City’s run of seven consecutiv­e Oceania titles.

The winners face a second round tie on Saturday against Tunisia’s Esperance, who will be bidding to become the third African team to reach the final.

In the other second round match, Asian champions Kashima Antlers, who took Real Madrid to extra time in the 2016 final, meet Concacaf champions Guadalajar­a, who hold steady to a tradition of only fielding Mexican players.

South American champions River Plate enter the fray in the first semifinal against either Esperance, Team Wellington or Al Ain on December 18 while Real Madrid meet Guadalajar­a or Kashima Antlers in the second semi-final the following day.

The final is at the Zayed Sports City Stadium on December 22.

River Plate only qualified on Sunday by beating arch-rivals Boca Juniors 3-1 in a tumultuous Copa Libertador­es final which was postponed for two weeks and moved from Buenos Aires to Madrid.

Boca players were injured when their team bus was attacked as it approached River’s Stadium before the second leg on November 21, forcing the game to be called off. River said the attack happened outside the stadium perimeter where they had no control over events.

River’s last appearance at the tournament was in 2015 where they were outclassed 3-0 by Barcelona in the final but coach Marcelo Gallardo said they were better prepared this time.

“If we look at the quality of the squads on paper, we can’t compete with such powerful teams,” he said.

“But this side has shown that it can play these types of matches against anyone and we will certainly be competitiv­e.”

“Three years ago, we faced one of the best teams in the world and didn’t have a chance. Now, it’s a different moment. We will see.”

THE COMPETITIO­N KICKS OFF ON WEDNESDAY WITH A PRELIMINAR­Y ROUND MATCH BETWEEN AL AIN AND TEAM WELLINGTON, WHO HAVE ENDED AUCKLAND CITY’S RUN OF SEVEN CONSECUTIV­E OCEANIA TITLES

 ?? — AFP ?? (L to R) Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric and Pachuca’s Uruguayan winger Jonathan Urretavisc­aya pose with the 2017 Fifa Club World Cup Silver, gold and bronze awards respective­ly following the Club World Cup final against Gremio at Zayed Sports City Stadium in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi on December 16, 2017. The 2018 edition of the competitio­n is set to kick-off on December 12, 2018, in the UAE.
— AFP (L to R) Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Ronaldo, Real Madrid’s Croatian midfielder Luka Modric and Pachuca’s Uruguayan winger Jonathan Urretavisc­aya pose with the 2017 Fifa Club World Cup Silver, gold and bronze awards respective­ly following the Club World Cup final against Gremio at Zayed Sports City Stadium in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi on December 16, 2017. The 2018 edition of the competitio­n is set to kick-off on December 12, 2018, in the UAE.

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