On 2023-12-22 22:59, Lléo wrote:
On 22/12/2023 17:30, Futbolmetrix wrote:
Blueshirt wrote:
A nice rest for Mr Haaland today.
I bet he starts on Friday though! ;-)
Rested today too.
I read that he, de Bruyne and Doku were actually withdrawn from the CWC squad, replaced by three U-23 players with almost zero experience in the senior squad.
FT: Manchester City - Fluminense 4-0
In general I have a lot of respect for Brazilian clubs, and I the CWC
is an important competition...but Felipe Melo playing in the final?
That's too much even for me! (glad to see Kyle Walker having some
friendly words with him at the end of the match...)
Glad for that too!
How's this for a damning statistic: in the last 10 editions of the CWC,
South American sides reached the final 6 times, in all of which they
scored an aggregate total of... 1 goal. Palmeiras against Chelsea, and
that was from a penalty kick. Al-Ain matched that in their sole
appearance in 2018, Kashima Antlers (2016) and Al Hilal (2022) actually
did better (even though they lost anyway).
About the game, although Ederson was made to work a couple of times, the
two teams seemed to come from different planets. It was not as bad as Barcelona vs Santos in 2011, but it wasn't that far from that either...
it looked like, if Man City wanted more goals, they'd just need to push
the throttle a little bit more. The match was theirs on minimal effort.
On a local level I don't mind it at all to see Fluminense being whacked
this way, but again, this result underscores the vast gulf there is
between European club football and the rest of the world's.
I read that, beyond their revamped, 32-team Club World Cup planned for
2025 (and supposed to be held every four years, on the year before the
World Cup),
In the Northern hemisphere summer, I gather. First one in the US in
2025. The criteria for qualification from UEFA are a bit bizarre.
Champions from 2021,2022, 2023 and 2024. 8 other teams based on a
ranking from the last four years that includes ONLY champions' league
games. No more than 2 clubs from one country unless a third club from
the same country wins in 2024 (i.e Arsenal, since I don't see how else
it could happen). Liverpool can't qualify, and one of Atletico and
Barcelona will also miss out. On the other hand, this scheme is very
generous to the Portugese clubs and I think Porto and Benfica are
already guaranteed a place. PSG and Bayern already qualified.
FIFA will also hold a yearly "FIFA Intercontinental Cup",
starting in 2024. I think they read rss: it is basically the same idea
once proposed here (I think by Werner?) that the continental champions
from Conmebol, Concacaf, AFC, CAF and OFC will playoff and the winner
faces the UEFA CL winner on neutral territory. Here's more info:
This one will be held yearly in December if I read correctly.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_FIFA_Intercontinental_Cup
Best regards,
Lléo
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