FIFA Club World Cup

Results, news, and analysis from the FIFA Club World Cup. The 2011 competition takes place in Japan, with Barcelona and Santos tipped to reach the final.

Don’t Worry Santos, Barcelona Do This to Everyone

Dec 212011

Don't Worry Santos, Barcelona Do This to Everyone

Santos 0 – 4 Barcelona Everyone was waiting to see Messi versus Neymar, and Santos had been waiting for months to test themselves against the best team Europe has to offer – one of the best teams Europe has ever offered. After an average domestic season in which Santos finished 10th in the Brasileiro and only qualified for next seasons Copa Libertadores by being the defending champions, all thoughts were on the World Club Cup, and a faceoff between the best players on their respective continents. A sense of anticipation emanated from Brazil as a nation; they were represented in the final of this intercontinental competition for the first time since 2006, but the main Read more..

Barcelona Defeat Al Sadd – But Lose Villa to Injury

FIFA Club World Cup, World Football

Dec 152011

Barcelona Defeat Al Sadd - But Lose Villa to Injury

Barcelona set up the Club World Cup final tie predicted by everyone at the start of the tournament, as they defeated Al Sadd by four goals to nil in front of over 66,000 people at the Nissan Stadium, Yokohama. The win came at a price though, as their Spanish star striker David Villa suffered a broken leg which will rule him out for the rest of the season, and probably next summer’s European Championships. A blow for Barcelona, and for Spain. Brazilian club Santos await Barcelona in the final, and Barcelona’s goals against Al Sadd had a few Brazilian connections to speak of. The first two goals were scored by Adriano, who played his youth Read more..

Santos (and Neymar) into the Club World Cup Final

Brazilian Football, FIFA Club World Cup, World Football

Dec 142011

Santos (and Neymar) into the Club World Cup Final

Today’s World Club Cup fixture saw South American representatives, Santos of Brazil, show their class to edge past a spirited Kashiwa Reysol side, a result which takes them through to the final of the competition. They will meet the winners of tomorrow’s game between Al Sadd and Barcelona. Many pundits are predicting big things from Santos forward Neymar in the build up to the 2014 World Cup, by which time he will be aged 21 and carrying the hopes of the home nation on his shoulders. Until then he’ll just have to make do with Pele describing him as better than Messi – “I think Neymar is much better, more complete” – and a whole Read more..

FIFA Club World Cup Update – Semi Final Preview

Brazilian Football, FIFA Club World Cup, World Football

Dec 132011

FIFA Club World Cup Update - Semi Final Preview

AFC Champions League holders Al Sadd of Quatar secured themselves a dream tie against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup, after defeating the current CAF Champions League holders AS Tunis by two goals to one. Al Sadd can boast a few relatively familiar names in their line-up – including players such as Nadir Belhadj, Abdul Kader Keita, and Mamadou Niang – all of whom may be familiar to followers of European football. The game will take place at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama this Thursday, the 15th of December, and could draw a large crowd in host nation Japan’s second largest city. The first semi-final will take place the day before, Read more..

Kashiwa Reysol v Auckland City – FIFA Club World Cup

FIFA Club World Cup, World Football

Dec 102011

Kashiwa Reysol v Auckland City - FIFA Club World Cup

Around 18,000 fans turned up to this FIFA Club World Cup opener between Kashiwa Reysol of Japan, and Auckland City of New Zealand, as Kashiwa booked their place in the quarter finals stage of the competition, setting up a tie against C.F. Monterrey of Mexico. This sounds like an impressive attendance for what has been described as a curtain raiser, but problem was that Japan’s Toyota Stadium which hosted the game, has a capacity approaching 40,000, so the fans were rather sparsely scattered and the stadium not half full. The host nation club would perhaps have liked to win by a clearer margin against the New Zealand amateur side, but the Auckland City players gave Read more..