Day -550, #WorldCup2018
Fifa's Club World Cup made it into the European news today because Real Madrid landed in Japan in preparation for their semi-final appearance on Thursday. Today's two quarter finals probably barely got noticed outside of Japan, South Korea, Mexico and South Africa. I would comfortably wager that the majority of viewers in Spain, or elsewhere in Europe, on Thursday, would have no idea that Jeonbuk Hyundai or Mamelodi Sundowns were part of this same tournament. And Auckland City? They were gone long before Real Madrid fans even remembered that their team would be off on their December jaunt to Japan.
Real Madrid play Mexico's Club America on Thursday, the day after Atletico Nacional of Colombia take on Kashima Antlers, Japan's representative as the host nation champions.
I question the existence of the Club World Cup with tongue in cheek. It is one of those ideas coming out of Fifa which is just a little to easy to poke fun at for the questionable reasons (addressed in an earlier post) for which it saw fit to create this tournament. I do, however, see the validity of crowning the best club team in the world. It's the method that I find amusing.
Just as the Confederations Cup, billed as the coming together of the six continental champions, has eight participants the club version is more peculiar in that seven teams are entered. The six champions are joined by host nation's league winners. That's one extra match for Fifa to sell to TV and the guaranteed interest of the Japanese fans, at least those of Kashima Antlers.
Give this a few years and Arsenal may be in the Club World Cup. Fifa may adopt more of UEFA's thinking and just as teams that are hardly "champions" compete in the Champions League, purely for UEFA;s financial gain we may see an expanded Club World Cup. Seeing as Arsenal are perennial Champions League round of 16 losers (and having not won the English league for many years) they would make excellent candidates.
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