2023-12-12T14:49:32+00:00
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/ The competitions of the twentieth edition of the FIFA Club World Cup will begin in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday and will continue until December 22, with the participation of the champions of six continents, including Arab clubs.
The competitions will open with the Saudi Al-Ittihad match at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, where Auckland City will face New Zealand in the first round, looking to repeat the achievement of its compatriot Al-Hilal, which surprised them last year in Morocco when they reached the final.
The most likely candidate
English Manchester City is the most likely candidate to complete its historic season with a fifth title in the twentieth edition. While Al-Ittihad hopes to repeat what Al-Hilal achieved in the last edition, when it overcame Moroccan Wydad Casablanca in the quarter-finals, then Brazilian Flamengo in the semi-finals, before losing in the final to Spanish Real Madrid.
Al-Ittihad is participating in its second participation in the tournament after the beginning of 2005, when it was champion of the Asian continent, and then finished fourth after defeating Al-Ahly of Egypt in the quarter-finals before losing in the quarter-finals to Sao Paulo of Brazil, and then the third-place match against Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica.
It is true that Auckland City has extensive experience in the Club World Cup, but its results were very modest, with the exception of the 2014 edition, during which it achieved third place.
The federation, which is armed with ground staff and fans, is seeking to overcome its negative results in the local league and appear in a different way, especially after it recovered a number of its injured players, with the exception of Italian Luiz Felipe, who has become outside the accounts of Argentine coach Marcelo Gallardo.
The federation is counting in particular on French striker Karim Benrimah, who won the Club World Cup five times under the colors of his former Spanish team, Real Madrid.
The veteran French striker played nine matches in the tournament, scoring four goals with three assists, but he and his teammates are going into the tournament with shaky morale after losing in the league to Damak 1-3, which made the team of Gallardo, who joined the club last month succeeding Portuguese player Nuno Espírito Santo, Trailing leaders Al Hilal by 16 points after 16 stages.
Win to stay
Al-Ittihad has another player in its ranks who won the title, namely Benzema’s compatriot, former Chelsea star N’Golo Kante, who won it with the London club two years ago at the expense of Brazilian Palmeiras 2-1, while Brazilian Fabinho was unlucky not to participate in his former team Liverpool’s victory in the championship title in 2019 due to injury. .
For Al-Ittihad’s Brazilian goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe, “Any match in the Club World Cup is always very difficult. The first match is always nervousness. It’s only one match, a knockout match, so you need to win to survive in the tournament.” We know that beating Auckland City will be difficult.”
After the loss to Al-Ittihad, which was Al-Ittihad’s fourth in the league this season, Brazilian midfielder Igor Cornado admitted that “Al-Ittihad’s performance was bad against Damac,” stressing that the loss was not “due to the focus on the World Cup, but rather mistakes occurred on the part of the players, which are the reason for the loss.” “The loss, but the team’s focus will be on the match against Auckland in the Club World Cup.”
On the New Zealand side, midfielder Cameron Howison warned against the federation, telling the FIFA website: “They have brought in some world-class players, some of the best in the world. It will be very difficult. Sometimes, when you bring together the best players in the world, The team is not homogeneous, but I watched their matches and the performance developed into a good way.”
Historic match
Today’s match, Tuesday, will be historic for Auckland City’s Argentine striker Emiliano Taddei, because, if he participates, he will equal the record set by Egyptian Al-Ahly star Hussein El-Shahat by playing 12 matches in the Club World Cup.
If Al-Ittihad and Auckland City are looking to achieve success in getting past the first round, then Manchester City’s ambition is much greater, as, after winning the Champions League title for the first time in its history and then the European Super Cup when it added them to the Premier League and local cup titles, Spanish coach Pep’s team is looking to Guardiola announced the completion of his exceptional season by adding the Club World Cup title.
Guardiola’s men enter the tournament, which they begin in the semi-finals by facing the winner of the match between Leon of Mexico, the CONCACAF champion, and Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan, the Asian champion, with shaky morale after being content with a single win in the last five matches in the Premier League, with the possibility of also missing their top scorer, Norwegian Erling Haaland, due to injury.
For Guardiola, who is seeking to set the record for the number of Club World Cup titles with 4, which he shares with Italian Carlo Ancelotti, “this tournament is very important, very prestigious.”
Like City, Fluminense is making its first participation in the tournament after winning the Copa Libertadores title for the first time in its history, and it begins its journey from the semi-finals as well, where it faces Al-Ahly, participating for the ninth time, or the winner of the match between Al-Ittihad and Auckland.
Brazilian ambition
The Brazilian team hopes to put an end to the monopoly of the Europeans who won the title in the last 11 editions, and to be the first champion from outside the Old Continent since 2012, when its compatriot Corinthians won the title at the expense of Chelsea.
The following is the program for the Club Football World Cup scheduled to be held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between 12 and 22 December:
Championship programme
– Tuesday 12 December:
First floor:
(18:00 GMT) Al-Ittihad Saudi Arabia – Auckland City, New Zealand (Match No. 1)
– Friday 15 December:
Quarter-finals
(15:30) Urawa Reds of Japan – Club Leon of Mexico (Match No. 3)
(18:00) Al-Ahly of Egypt – Winner of Match No. 1 (Match 2)
– Monday 18 December:
Semi-final
(18:00) Brazilian Fluminense – Winner of Match No. 2
– Tuesday 19 December:
Semi-final
(18:00) Manchester City, England – Winner of Match No. 3
– Friday, December 22
(18:00) Final match