Chivas Guadalajara got off to a dream start at the Club World Cup on Saturday.
Then it all fell apart. And with it, perhaps Mexico’s best chance to win the Club World Cup.
Asian champion Kashima Antlers rallied from an early deficit and held off a late charge to defeat Chivas 3-2 in the Club World Cup on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Kashima will now play Real Madrid in the semifinals on Wednesday.
The transformation of the 2018 Copa Libertadores Final from one of the most anticipated club matches of the calendar year to an absurd sideshow was complete when the second leg’s staging at the Santiago Bernabéu was confirmed — a decision that turns the Superclásico into nothing more than the “most costly friendly in history,”
By holding Iran’s Persepolis to a 0-0 draw in front of 100,000 at Azadi Stadium in Tehran, Japan’s Kashima Antlers won the AFC Champions League final 2-0 on aggregate and booked a 2018 FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinal match against Mexico’s Guadalajara on Dec. 15 in the United Arab Emirates.
The stars for Kashima were 22-year-old Japanese international Yuma Suzuki and the Brazilian duo of Léo Silva and Serginho, who’ll give Chivas everything they can handle come December.
As reported by The Guardian’s David Conn, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has submitted a proposal for a revamped Club World Cup that would, like the Champions League, feature multiple Premier League and top European sides annually. According to the article, there will be two proposals considered by the FIFA Council during a meeting on Wednesday in Rwanda, and UEFA is none too enthralled by the second one:
Chivas Guadalajara is going to have a new look come the FIFA Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, and we’re not talking about the absence of the man who led the team to the Concacaf Champions League title (Matías Almeyda was actually named head coach of the San Jose Earthquakes on Monday). According to the latest leaks, Chivas will debut a new jersey for its December quarterfinal matchup against the AFC Champions League winner (one of Kashima Antlers, Suwon Bluewings, Al-Sadd or Persepolis).
Names of Brazilian soccer stars can be confusing. Because the Portuguese naming tradition uses four names, players are typically given nicknames or go by their first name. That’s why there are three Freds who have played abroad. But one name may sound immediately familiar and yet strangely alien at the same time — Ronaldão.
Let’s be honest, no one really watches the Club World Cup. If your team is in it, you might try to figure out what obscure channel is televising its matches, but in reality you’ll probably just try to catch the highlights on some cool soccer website like The18.com.
For 50 glorious minutes, Ali Khaseif was a magnificent wall, stopping anything and everything thrown his way. The world’s greatest goal scorer on the world’s most expensive team had shot after shot parried away. Then, the goalie got hurt, had to come off and Real Madrid immediately took advantage on the way to a 2-1 win over Al Jazira in the Club World Cup on Wednesday.
In continuing the theme of 2017 being a sh*t year for U.S. soccer, the lone American at the Club World Cup was at fault for the goal that knocked Mexico’s Pachuca out of the competition on Tuesday at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in the UAE. Gremio’s Everton turned Omar Gonzalez inside out before curling in a wonderful shot to give the Brazilian side a 1-0 victory in extra time.
Gonzalez apparently thought he was still playing for the USMNT, perhaps against Trinidad and Tobago.
Grêmio claimed its third Copa Libertadores title with a 2-1 victory (3-1 aggregate) over Lanús on Wednesday. The Gremio Copa Libertadores victory sparked a wild celebration back home as the Brazilian club rounded out the field for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins next week.
Fernandinho and Luan both scored in the first half for Grêmio, which held on despite a red card to Ramiro in the 83rd minute.