GOAL US presents CWC XI: Key observations from the conclusion of the group stage, and a look ahead to the knockouts
You'd be forgiven for being a bit blurry-eyed during the second week of the Club World Cup. Major tournaments – yes, we're calling this a major tournament now – sometimes get like that. There's a bit of a mid-group tedium. Results sort of matter, sort of don't.
Everyone is basically waiting for the last matchday. And it delivered. The final games of the group stage properly ironed things out. The pretenders are all gone, while the real teams with real quality showed that they really want to win.
Mostly, though, this was charmingly about football heritage, with the names that you grew up watching or playing FIFA with showing they can still kick a ball a bit. Does the world still need Sergio Ramos, 39, kicking the living daylights out of strikers? TBD. But it sure is loads of fun to watch him do it for a Mexican side in 100-degree weather.
Elsewhere, Pep Guardiola realized he can coach a team to play very good football again, and Xabi Alonso is doing some tactically groovy things with Real Madrid.
GOAL US presents theClub World Cup XI, with key observations at the conclusion of the group stage.
AFP1These guys are still playing?
Isn't it lovely, watching the old lads kick a ball just a little longer? Sergio Ramos is nearly 40, and his time at the top is well over. Angel Di Maria convinced everyone that he was going to leave Benfica, but then decided by himself that he fancied one last summer. Luis Suarez, Luka Modric, Thomas Muller – they're all still here in the Club World Cup, doing their thing.
And they have all made an impact. Ramos is still a madman who likes to crunch attackers for fun. Di Maria can still do silly things with a football. Suarez – more on him later – still has moments of magic. Meanwhile, Modric and Muller remain magnificent, aging with such grace.
AdvertisementImago2Luis Suarez has (maybe) still got it!
Those who religiously watch MLS every week will tell you that Suarez isn't the player he once was. Watching him now actually physically hurts knees. He cannot move like he used to. But every now and then, he does something magical. He scored a vintage goal for Miami against Palmeiras to round off the group stage, and kept the Herons in the tournament – the only MLS club to make that claim – with one characteristic moment of ricocheting genius.
Reprodução/Man City3Man City are scary again
Who among us really doubted that Man City would figure this out? Give Pep Guardiola a ton of cash and he will do something scary with it. City have toyed with their lineup this tournament, and spent a fair bit of time at the beach, too (turns out Guardiola still has a decent first touch).
But they've also been devastatingly good at football, something they proved with an absolute shellacking of Juventus on Thursday night. Rodri is back, Omar Marmoush looks good, Erling Haaland kick ball good, and Phil Foden is humming again. Football is probably more boring when City are good. Get ready for a Premier League snoozefest.
Getty Images Sport4I wanna play the beautiful game out in Brazil
Everyone suggested that South American teams would be good at the CWC. But who actually truly believed it? Sure, the trendy guys and European vets spit out platitudes about "no easy games" and "treating everyone with respect." But these lot weren't supposed to be beating PSG and topping groups.
Plot twist: they're all here – and all four are really rather good. You'd back Flamengo against Bayern, while Fluminense have a real shot against Inter, too. It would be wonderful to have a Brazilian team in the semis, and that could quite comfortably be a reality now. Take that, Eurosnobs.
