Kashima Antlers, of Japan, the only team in Fifa's Club World Cup who are not continental champions are in Sunday's final. They, surprisingly perhaps but maybe not so in the circumstances, beat Atletico Nacional 3-0 in today's semifinal. But that's only part of the story.
Atletico Nacional are the team that were meant to play the tragedy-hit Chapecoense team in last month's Copa Sudamericana final. The Atletico players said they were looking to win the Club World Cup for Chapecoense and the Atletico supporters in Japan were wearing Chapecoense colours. Cynical as many non-fans (and even fans) of the sport may be about the possibility that football players have thoughts beyond their next match, their pay cheques or their image, it is also equally hard to believe that the Atletico players weren't affected emotionally by what happened a couple of weeks ago. I really do not believe they were in the best competitive frame of mind. And it didn't help that luck wasn't on their side with a historical decision going against them.
For the first time in a competitive match referees had access to video replays. Kashima were awarded a penalty in the first half for what The Guardian described as "an off-the-ball trip", seen by the referee on a video replay. The same report also mentioned that the Kashima player "looked to be offside." Which, of course, begs a question with many parts to be asked but wasn't brought up: "Could the referee only review one part of the play, could he not see the offside and who decided what he was to review?"
Atletico hit the crossbar and had numerous chances to score, but as we all know the team that scores more goals wins. Near misses don't count. This, however, seems especially harsh on Atletico who were only behind because of that controversial penalty. The second and third goals were scored right at the end when Atletico had probably given up on defending.
Still, Kashima deserve to be recognised for winning three matches, two of which could be considered as surprises, to reach the final where they are expected to face Real Madrid. It will be a great occasion for the Japanese team, playing at home against one of the consistently best teams in the world.
Last week I quoted Kashima midfielder Shoma Doi and wondered about his ambition when he said: "When I was starting out, I used to say that playing in the FIFA Club World Cup was my dream. I feel very happy to have fulfilled that dream now.” I'll say now that playing in the Club World Cup final, in Japan, against Real Madrid must be about a good as it gets.
No comments:
Post a Comment