Man City Crush Juventus, Real Madrid Reach Club World Cup Last 16
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City demonstrated their Club World Cup credentials with a 5-2 victory over Juventus on Thursday while Vinicius Junior starred as Real Madrid beat Salzburg 3-0 to secure a spot in the last 16.
Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia beat Pachuca of Mexico 2-0 to pip Salzburg to the last berth in the knockout phase, as Al Ain battled to a 2-1 win over Wydad Casablanca in the day's other game.
City became the only side at the tournament to win all three of their group matches as they put Juventus to the sword in front of 54,320 at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
City now face Al Hilal, the only Asian representative in the next round after goals from Salem Al-Dawsari and Brazilian Marcos Leonardo against Pachuca.
"We played well and I'm happy with the victory," said City winger Jeremy Doku, who opened the scoring.
Doku pounced for the early opener after new arrival Rayan Ait-Nouri set him up with a clever ball.
However City stopper Ederson passed the ball straight to Teun Koopmeiners who levelled for Juventus, in one of the few moments in which Guardiola's team let their focus slip.
Pierre Kalulu bundled into his own net from Matheus Nunes' cross to restore City's lead.
The Premier League side, hoping to make up for a poor season by their standards in which they finished without a major trophy, stepped up a level after the break with Erling Haaland's introduction.
The Norwegian striker tapped home the third and then helped create the fourth for Phil Foden, before Savinho smashed home from distance for the fifth.
Dusan Vlahovic netted late on for Juve but it did not take the shine off an impressive triumph for City, who were able to give holding midfielder Rodri a first start after his long injury lay-off.
"Manchester City have a lot better (quality of) players than us, that's the truth, that needs to be acknowledged," said Juventus coach Igor Tudor as his side finished second in Group G.
"The stars didn't align for us to play better tonight."
Al Ain got the better of Wydad in Washington, DC in a meeting of two teams who were already eliminated but were hoping to sign off with a victory.
South African striker Cassius Mailula blasted the Moroccans into an early lead but Togo international Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba levelled from the spot just before the break for Al Ain.
That was their first goal of the tournament after 5-0 and 6-0 thrashings by Juve and City respectively, and Paraguayan international Alejandro Romero curled home from the edge of the box to earn the team from the United Arab Emirates victory.
Vinicius scored one goal and made another with a touch of class as Madrid saw off Salzburg in Philadelphia to clinch top spot in Group H.
Real play Juventus in the last 16 in Miami on Tuesday.
The Brazil star Vinicius opened the scoring after a superb defence-splitting pass by Jude Bellingham on 40 minutes, to the delight of the vast majority of the 64,811 crowd on a rainy night at Lincoln Financial Field.
Vinicius then set up Federico Valverde with a clever backheel to make it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time.
Young striker Gonzalo Garcia ran through to wrap up the win late on with his second goal of the tournament, as Xabi Alonso's team end the first round of FIFA's new tournament unbeaten.
"I am pleased with the boys, and now the interesting phase begins," Alonso told broadcaster DAZN.
Real were once again without top scorer Kylian Mbappe, who has yet to play at the tournament as he recovers from illness.
"We thought Kylian would make it and it wasn't to be. Now we have four days and I want to be optimistic but cautious at the same time," Alonso said. Vinicius Junior (R) scores Real Madrid's opening goal in their 3-0 win over Salzburg in Philadelphia AFP
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Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Int'l Business Times
Man City Crush Juventus, Real Madrid Reach Club World Cup Last 16
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City demonstrated their Club World Cup credentials with a 5-2 victory over Juventus on Thursday while Vinicius Junior starred as Real Madrid beat Salzburg 3-0 to secure a spot in the last 16. Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia beat Pachuca of Mexico 2-0 to pip Salzburg to the last berth in the knockout phase, as Al Ain battled to a 2-1 win over Wydad Casablanca in the day's other game. City became the only side at the tournament to win all three of their group matches as they put Juventus to the sword in front of 54,320 at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando. City now face Al Hilal, the only Asian representative in the next round after goals from Salem Al-Dawsari and Brazilian Marcos Leonardo against Pachuca. "We played well and I'm happy with the victory," said City winger Jeremy Doku, who opened the scoring. Doku pounced for the early opener after new arrival Rayan Ait-Nouri set him up with a clever ball. However City stopper Ederson passed the ball straight to Teun Koopmeiners who levelled for Juventus, in one of the few moments in which Guardiola's team let their focus slip. Pierre Kalulu bundled into his own net from Matheus Nunes' cross to restore City's lead. The Premier League side, hoping to make up for a poor season by their standards in which they finished without a major trophy, stepped up a level after the break with Erling Haaland's introduction. The Norwegian striker tapped home the third and then helped create the fourth for Phil Foden, before Savinho smashed home from distance for the fifth. Dusan Vlahovic netted late on for Juve but it did not take the shine off an impressive triumph for City, who were able to give holding midfielder Rodri a first start after his long injury lay-off. "Manchester City have a lot better (quality of) players than us, that's the truth, that needs to be acknowledged," said Juventus coach Igor Tudor as his side finished second in Group G. "The stars didn't align for us to play better tonight." Al Ain got the better of Wydad in Washington, DC in a meeting of two teams who were already eliminated but were hoping to sign off with a victory. South African striker Cassius Mailula blasted the Moroccans into an early lead but Togo international Kodjo Fo-Doh Laba levelled from the spot just before the break for Al Ain. That was their first goal of the tournament after 5-0 and 6-0 thrashings by Juve and City respectively, and Paraguayan international Alejandro Romero curled home from the edge of the box to earn the team from the United Arab Emirates victory. Vinicius scored one goal and made another with a touch of class as Madrid saw off Salzburg in Philadelphia to clinch top spot in Group H. Real play Juventus in the last 16 in Miami on Tuesday. The Brazil star Vinicius opened the scoring after a superb defence-splitting pass by Jude Bellingham on 40 minutes, to the delight of the vast majority of the 64,811 crowd on a rainy night at Lincoln Financial Field. Vinicius then set up Federico Valverde with a clever backheel to make it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time. Young striker Gonzalo Garcia ran through to wrap up the win late on with his second goal of the tournament, as Xabi Alonso's team end the first round of FIFA's new tournament unbeaten. "I am pleased with the boys, and now the interesting phase begins," Alonso told broadcaster DAZN. Real were once again without top scorer Kylian Mbappe, who has yet to play at the tournament as he recovers from illness. "We thought Kylian would make it and it wasn't to be. Now we have four days and I want to be optimistic but cautious at the same time," Alonso said. Vinicius Junior (R) scores Real Madrid's opening goal in their 3-0 win over Salzburg in Philadelphia AFP
Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Int'l Business Times
City Thrash Juventus To Maintain 100% Record At Club World Cup
Manchester City turned on the style to seal top spot in Group G at the Club World Cup with an emphatic 5-2 win over Juventus on Thursday. The third straight victory for Pep Guardiola's side increases the chances of City avoiding a meeting with Real Madrid in the last 16 -- a fate that may now await Juventus. City and Juve will not know their opponent until the final pair of games in Group H conclude later on Friday. A positive day for City saw 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri make his first start since rupturing his ACL in September and Guardiola's side, featuring several new faces, look significantly improved on the team which struggled to finish 13 points behind Premier League champions Liverpool last season. City were on top from the outset with a Bernardo Silva header forcing Juve keeper Michele Di Gregorio to save with his feet in the fifth minute. Four minutes later, Guardiola's new-look side had the lead when after a characteristic, patient build-up, Rayan Ait-Nouri split the Juve defence with a superb pass which Jeremy Doku collected and dispatched into the far corner. Juve were gifted an equaliser when City's Brazilian keeper Ederson's pass out was intercepted by Teun Koopmeiners who marched into the box and confidently fired home. Juve returned the gift though in the 26th minute when French defender Pierre Kalulu, under no pressure, turned a low cross from Matheus Nunes into his own net. A short but intense downpour just before half-time cooled the stadium down and Guardiola introduced his prolific Norwegian striker Erling Haaland at the break and it took just seven minutes for him to find the scoresheet. Tijjani Reijnders fed Matheus Nunes whose low cross found an unmarked Haaland in the middle and while it wasn't the cleanest of finishes from close range, the striker celebrated his 300th career goal. Rodri left the field in the 66th minute to applause as Ilkay Gundogan took over his role in the centre of midfield but City continued to over-run the Turin side. Haaland latched on to a long ball from Ederson and looked for fellow sub Phil Foden in the middle but put his cross beyond the England man only for Savinho to recover it and set-up Foden for a simple conversion. Savinho then made made it 5-1 when after a Haaland shot was saved by De Gregorio's feet, the Brazilian met the loose ball with a thundering drive which flew in off the underside of the bar. Juventus had created little but restored a little pride when Kenan Yildiz produced a lovely touch and clever pass to set Dusan Vlahovic free and the Serbian beat Ederson from the edge of the box. "It has been a long time since we had a performance like this on and off the ball. The players were committed and we are happy to beat a top side," Guardiola said afterwards. "This is just one game, but I think the players felt again what it was like to be a good team. The belief always comes from your performances, not your past," added Guardiola, who was delighted to have Rodri back at the heart of his team. "We have missed him a lot. He knows exactly what he has to do with the ball, and his personality. I didn't expect him to play as many minutes. He will be ready for the next one. Everybody gave an incredible performance," he said. For Juventus it was a mauling that they will need to quickly recover from before their last 16 game. "They have much stronger players than us and I'm not going to look for excuses," said Croatian coach Igor Tudor. "We suffered. We weren't able to steal the ball, we were deep and we didn't play well with the ball. We paid for everything, we had to be perfect but they always arrived first to the ball," he added. "This defeat does not put anything into perspective, we played against the best team in the world. I have nothing to reproach my players for, we'll take this blow, now we'll rest and move on".
DW
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Club World Cup: Football players and fans languish in heat – DW – 06/25/2025
Slow-paced soccer matches, sweltering players and complaints about the heat have been the themes of the Club World Cup. Organizers FIFA say they take reasonable precautions but many see a major safety concern. FIFA is "not taking the dangers of extreme heat seriously enough" and is on course for a "perfect storm" of unsafe conditions at major events like the 2026 World Cup, according to Peter Crisp from environmental advocacy group Fossil Free Football. Speaking after Bayern Munich lost to Benfica in temperatures of 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit) at the Club World Cup in the US city of Charlotte on Tuesday, Crisp told DW that such an outcome, which has become commonplace in recent days at the Club World Cup, should have been entirely predictable to football's global governors. "This was a very obvious risk. It only took a brief look at the previous weather records from the cities involved to show that dangerous heat was absolutely going to impact this tournament, and so it's proved," he said. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany referred to the "tough conditions" in his post-match press briefings, adding that one positive of the loss, which still saw Bayern progress, is that "we don't need to play in Charlotte anymore." Unfortunately, for the German champions, the issues are not confined to one city, with a climate phenomenon known as the "heat dome" seeing record-high temperatures recorded across the east of the USA. On Saturday, in Cincinnati, it was Borussia Dortmund who struggled to cope with the 32-degree heat. Pictures of their substitutes sat away from the pitch in an air conditioned locker room seemed to strike a chord with players, clubs and fans. Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said he was "sweating like I've just come out of a sauna" at the match and that it was "tough going for both teams" while acknowledging South African opponents Mamelodi Sundowns were more accustomed to such conditions. Kompany added that the conditions made it impossible for the players to play at their maximum. "I was a little apprehensive regarding the heat and the pitch. I wasn't worried we wouldn't win, I was more concerned with the flow of the game," said Kompany. The pace of games at the tournament has generally been slow, with players attempting to conserve energy, a criticism that has been increasingly leveled at World Cups in recent years. In a statement sent to DW, FIFA said it put the health of anyone involved first and worked with clubs and local health authorities to combat any dangers. "FIFA is implementing a sound preventative concept at all venues, including cooling breaks in the 30th and 75th minutes in accordance with the relevant protocols," the statement read, while adding that fans may bring reusable plastic bottles into stadiums. "From a broader player welfare perspective, besides having the right to make a maximum of five substitutions, teams can make an additional substitution if a match goes into extra time (regardless of whether the team has used its maximum number of substitutes or not), as well as a concussion substitution. Additionally, all teams have a minimum of three rest days between matches to facilitaterecovery." Many in football, including big-name players, coaches and the global players union, FIFPRO, believe three rest days is not enough for players who, thanks to the introduction of the Club World Cup in what is usually a rest period in the calendar for most teams, are being asked to play and travel more than ever before. Indeed, FIFPRO have started legal proceedings against FIFA, partly on the basis that: "the oversaturated international football calendar risks player safety and wellbeing." Crisp sees changes to scheduling as an easy first step, questioning the logic of playing games at midday when at the Copa America last June an assistant referee collapsed due to the heat during a daytime game in Kansas City. Larger changes to the calendar may well have to follow. "I think FIFA needs to think seriously about revising the protocol to shift kickoff times to safer periods of the day if that's needed. When we saw the forecast for Bayern Munich against Benfica, we could see a week in advance that it was going to be really dangerous temperatures," he said. "But unfortunately, in a rapidly heating world, those kinds of small adaption measures are really just going to be playing around the edges." Despite being asked the question directly, FIFA did not reference what the scenes at the Club World Cup would mean for its future tournaments. Sixteen cities are to host World Cup games in the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026. However, only five of the stadiums that will be used have roofs to provide some sun protection in a tournament set to be played at a similar time of year. "I think 2026 is almost a perfect storm where FIFA has decided to massively expand the competition, pushing it to 104 matches, which means that it's extremely likely that many of those matches are going to intersect with periods of dangerous weather, Crisp said. "Expanding the competition so heavily obviously also massively increases the amount of flying that's needed as millions of fans join their teams and travel around the whole of North America." The next two men's World Cups are due to be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco (2030) and then Saudi Arabia (2034). Both of these countries can reasonably be expected to be under similarly hot conditions at the relevant times. The impacts on the environment, the safety of players and the quality of the games are clear to many at the Club World Cup, but FIFA boss Gianni Infantino appears happy enough with their new competition. "Those who are not there, of course, they would love to be there. So, maybe some criticize it a little bit, but it's something new, it's something special, it's something big. It is a real World Cup with the best teams and the best players," he said on Sunday.
