FIFA Club World Cup 2018 - Match officials appointed for FINAL game between @alainfcae_en 🇦🇪vs. @realmadriden🇪🇸(22 December in Abu Dhabi)Ref: Jair MARRUFO 🇺🇸 Asst Ref 1: Frank ANDERSON🇺🇸 Asst Ref 2: Corey ROCKWELL 🇺🇸 VAR: Danny MAKKELIE 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/mQGYKvVvgm— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) December 21, 2018 MLS fans, what's he like?
Finally, I want't to voice my disappointment that Zayed Sports City keeps getting the CWC finals (and AFC Nations Cup final in January) when you have a much more football friendly stadium in the city of Abu Dhabi. The home of Al Jazira: It only has 1,000 seats less. 42k instead of 43k. Fans much closer.
Chivas may have already bowed out, but their coach José Cardozo has stuck around to watch the rest of the tournament. Let's see if he can score the real prize: that elusive selfie with @Nico Limmat
I will look out for the guy trying to order guacamole with his shawarma. Solari: I love this competition (FIFA.com) Fine article except Atlante did not finish third in 2009.
River Plate up 1:0 in the 60th minute but they can’t relax yet. Kashima with a huge chance just now. One on one with the keeper.
River Plate take it 4:0 as Kashima unravelled in the final minutes. Bit of a harsh scoreline for the Antlers as they hit the bar/post three times.
Five minutes played in the final and Sergio Ramos getting booed every time he touches the ball. Must be the Salah fans in the crowd!
Halftime. Real Madrid up 1:0 thanks to a Modric goal. Al Ain looked dangerous on two occasions, a genuine big chance and a goal ruled offside. Anything can happen at this point but if Real get another it will likely seal the title.
Still beats the era from a couple years ago when the ROW couldn't even score a goal on the European champs. And now we wait until March to see what sort of monstrous experiment Dr. Infantinostein attempts on this tournament...
And for me and others to bow out if he does. If this is the end of the legit era, then a decent way to close it out with Euro dominance. It was fun debating the merits of this trophy for years. It'd get pretty heated sometimes, to the point where the mod has to warn against it in every thread. It does feel like this is it, you get that feeling sometimes in many aspects of life where you know the shark was jumped. We'll see, tho.
Solari is Argentinian. South Americans usually take this tournament seriously. He knows if River Plate (his former club) was beaten then the victorious opponent must be studied.
Matchday 5 - Summary: M1 | 12.12.18 | Al Ain - Team Wellington 3:3/4:3 PSO (Playoff) M2 | 15.12.18 | Espérance Tunis - Al Ain 0:3 (Quarterfinal) M3 | 15.12.18 | Kashima Antlers - CD Guadalajara 3:2 (Quarterfinal) M4 | 18.12.18 | Espérance Tunis - CD Guadalajara 1:1/6:5 PSO (Match for 5th Place) M5 | 18.12.18 | River Plate - Al Ain 2:2/4:5 PSO (Semifinal) M6 | 19.12.18 | Kashima Antlers - Real Madrid 1:3 (Semifinal) M7 | 22.12.18 | Kashima Antlers - River Plate 0:4 (Match for 3rd Place) M8 | 22.12.18 | Real Madrid - Al Ain 4:1 (Final)
Final Standings: 1. Real Madrid (UEFA) 2. Al Ain (AFC, Host) 3. River Plate (CONMEBOL) 4. Kashima Antlers (AFC) 5. Espérance Tunis (CAF) 6. CD Guadalajara (CONCACAF) 7. Team Wellington (OFC) Average attendance was up this year (no surprise given Al Ain's success) but unfortunately still short of 20K. In the four years that the UAE hosted only 2010 was above the 20K mark. 2009 - 19,544 2010 - 25,031 2017 - 16,571 2018 - 19,084 Let's see where we head next with the CWC in terms of location (China?) and format (change in 2021?). Real Madrid will be on top of historical stats for a long, long time. Especially if the frequency changes.
Personally, I am taking a breather before the AFC Asian Cup commences in January. This one is of course also being hosted by the UAE. I am currently penciled in to attend at least five matches. Between CWC and Asian Cup it looks like I will be attending 11 matches from Dec 15 until Feb 1. About one match every 4.5 days on average. Merry Christmas everyone.
Yes to the first! Iran-Iraq is probably the biggest group stage match held in Dubai. I will stick to matches in the Dubai/Sharjah metropolitan area for the group stage and then drive to Abu Dhabi and Al Ain for elimination rounds and final. I would go to more matches but 3:00 and 5:30 pm kick-off times are very difficult to manage with work, even if nearby. But I guess East Asian television viewership is more important than my attendance. On the menu so far: Palestine - Australia India - Bahrain Iran - Iraq Quarterfinal (Jan 25) Final
1076543992161099776 is not a valid tweet id PS: I think I know why Zayed Sports City keeps getting all the finals. Fireworks for the winner ceremony can be launched more easily from the roof.
If it's one tenth the epic battle that I saw in the 2015 version between these two sides in my home town - then you are in for one memorable match. J
Well, this was a tournament Solari could only lose. Madrid fans barely care that they won, especially given the opponents that they faced, but if they had lost to some team nobody has ever heard of then he might've been in some hot water already.