HexagonalBlog

Club World Cup finishes up

The FIFA Club World Cup, better known as the expanded Intercontinental Cup, concluded with Manchester United lifting the trophy after defeating Liga de Quito 1-0.  Wayne Rooney settled the final with a well-taken strike in the 73rd minute.  I had an early morning flight so I wasn't able to watch the match, but from reading the press reports it appeared that Man U were the better side despite the expulsion of Vidic.  The win completes a Premier League, European Champions League, and Club World Cup treble for the English side.  Liga haven't had a great season in Ecuador, but they will always be remembered for being the first Ecuadorian side to win a Copa Libertadores, and Edgardo Bauza will leave the club with that achievement.  At least the fans are still proud of their team, and why not?

In the third-place match, Gamba Osaka defeated Pachuca 1-0 on a goal by Masato Yamaguchi.  The match statistics said that Pachuca dominated possession and shots on goal, yet failed to threaten the Gamba net.  "Profligate finishing" indeed.

This tournament marks the end of an era of Intercontinental Cups and FIFA Club World Cups played in Japan (we'll ignore the bloated 2000 Club World Cup in Brazil).  Next year the tournament moves to Dubai, which promises to be warmer, drier, and even more expensive than Japan.

Manchester United advances to final

Manchester United advanced to the final of the FIFA Club World Cup by virtue of their 5-3 victory over Asian champions Gamba Osaka.  It was 2-0 to United at halftime, but six goals were scored in the final 15 minutes -- and four in five minutes!  United were always going to win, but Gamba kept on battling, and the crowd definitely got their money's worth.  So Man U will make it yet another European-South American final against Liga de Quito on Sunday.  Gamba will play Pachuca in the consolation match to be played before the final.

Of course, the real highlight of the match was Fergie (not Stacy) giving the hairdryer treatment to Real Madrid. 

Pachuca falls to Liga de Quito

Pachuca's dream of advancing to the final of the FIFA Club World Cup fell short at the last hurdle when they lost 2-0 to LDU de Quito early this morning.  Claudio Bieler and Luis Bolaños scored for the South American champions in the opening half hour.  I haven't been able to watch the entire match, but from watching match highlights and reading match reports and interviews it appears that Liga deserved their win.   They will seek to regain South American supremacy in the tournament final on Sunday.

This match closes the book on a golden era for Pachuca -- five domestic championships, three CONCACAF Champions Cups, a SuperLiga, and a Copa Sudamericana in the last ten years.  I think that Pachuca were the best team in the Americas during 2006-2007, and had the best chance of any of the minor confederation club champions to break through to the Club World Cup final.  It will be at least a year before Pachuca will be able to return to this stage, but with their stable of good young players they should be able to write another successful chapter in their long history.

For all you night owls, insomniacs, and early risers

Pachuca get their big chance to advance to the final of the FIFA Club World Cup when they face South American champions Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito on Wednesday night (Japan time).  The match kicks off at 0330 Arizona time (GMT -7), so if you're staying up late on the West Coast, can't sleep, or are getting ready to go to work on the East Coast you can watch it on Fox Soccer Channel.

Pachuca defeats Ahly, surges into semifinal

I haven't made any posts on the FIFA World Club Championship, partly because I'm not able to watch the games as much as I used to, and partly because the matches aren't that interesting until the final.  I saw a rebroadcast of Adelaide United vs. Waitakere United, and Adelaide took a long time to defeat a side that was very limited.  For those who might be interested (and read Spanish), here's a preview of the tournament from Radio MARCA's Axel Torres. 

Last night's match between Pachuca and Egypt's Al-Ahly was definitely interesting.  I wasn't able to watch the match live, but it has to be a great match when there's a comeback from a 0-2 deficit.  Here's a report from Mexican sports daily Medio Tiempo. 

So now the CONCACAF champions will square off against Ecuador's Liga de Quito.  I believe that Pachuca had a better chance to progress to the final last year than this year, but I'm not willing to give Liga more than a slight advantage. 

Milan wins the Club World Cup

AC Milan won the Club World Cup this morning after defeating Boca Juniors 4-2 in Yokohama.  They now have 18 international trophies, one more than Boca. 

I'll have more to say about the match when I watch the replay.  I heard that Kaká was brilliant, but that's not really a surprise.

And in the 3rd/4th place match, Urawa Reds defeated Etoile du Sahel 4-2 on penalties after the match ended 2-2.

Boca Juniors vs. Etoile du Sahel

One half of the Club World Cup final is complete as Boca Juniors defeated Etoile du Sahel 1-0 last night.  Boca didn't play a lot of attractive football (it wasn't going to happen with Riquelme ineligible for the tournament), but they did enough to win the game through Neri Cardozo eight minutes before halftime.  Etoile had a man advantage in the second half thanks to yet another red card shown to Boca's Fabián Vargas, but they couldn't convert the few chances that the Argentine side allowed.  The missed header by Silva right at the end was Etoile's best chance.

So, Boca will play in the match that they wanted above anything else, preferably against Milan but they wouldn't mind Urawa Reds, either.  Etoile will conclude their participation in the tournament with the 3rd/4th place match on

Urawa Reds vs. Sepahan

Last night Urawa Reds defeated Sepahan 3-1 and advanced to the semifinal of the FIFA Club World Cup.  It was really no trouble at all for the Japanese club, who were spurred on by their typically rabid support.  Now the tournament can really begin with the semifinal games: Boca Juniors against Etoile du Sahel, and AC Milan versus the Reds.

Pachuca vs. Etoile du Sahel

Etoile Sportive du Sahel pulled off a shock 1-0 victory over Pachuca to advance to the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup.  I was able to watch just the first 30 minutes of the match, and it definitely didn't look like ESS would win it.  Pachuca hit the crossbar on one occasion and had a goal disallowed for offside on another, but in the end ESS won the match on a deflected 35-meter shot with five minutes to go. 

I'm going to have to see the replay of this match, but from reading the match report it seemed that ESS were a bit lucky.  At any rate, the African champions will play Boca Juniors on 12 December.

UPDATE:  Here's more on the match, from Mexican sports site Medio Tiempo.

Sepahan vs. Waitakere United

Sepahan advanced to final eight of the FIFA Club World Cup with a comfortable 3-1 win over Waitakere United.  The match was over in the first five minutes, and some might say it was over well before it started.

Sepahan will now play Urawa Reds on Monday.