A clash of English and Brazilian teams in Philadelphia shows off exactly what FIFA wants from the Club World Cup

The scenes in Philadelphia on Friday were exactly what FIFA wanted when they came up with this super-sized version of the Club World Cup.
A clash of soccer cultures was on full display as Brazilian club CR Flamengo took on English giants Chelsea at Lincoln Financial Field. Under a beautiful early summer afternoon sun, the Linc – a venue no stranger to noise as the home of the Philadelphia Eagles – was positively bouncing as 54,000 fans screamed their lungs out.
The Flamengo fans, fresh off one of their club's best seasons in recent memory, having captured the Brazilian Supercopa and the Campeonato Carioca, were making unbelievable noise from the moment they filled in the stadium's northern end. The few fans in Chelsea blue who purchased tickets among them must have realized fairly quickly they were in for a long day.
The bizarre mix of world football and American football was once again clashing early in the game. FIFA President Gianni Infantino has likened this tournament and next year's World Cup as the equivalent of three or four Super Bowls every day for a month, and his organization has undoubtedly tried to bring a little of that American flair to the world's game.
The starting lineups for each team were introduced individually to pounding music – a far cry from the understated team walkouts that generally mark the start of soccer matches around the world. When music shook the concrete of the stands, it seemed like most of the fans – both those in black and red and blue and white – were simply waiting for things to quiet down so they could start singing once again.
And sing they did – particularly the Flamengo fans, who seemed to hardly take a breath. Each forward attack was met by screams, urging their players. Whistles and boos met Chelsea possessions and when Pedro Neto scored the opening goal for the Blues in the 13th minute, the cheers from the blue end of the field were overtaken by the screams of rebuttal from the Flamengo fans scattered around this massive stadium.
Neto's goal was also followed by an ear-splitting playing of Blur's 'Song 2.' The soccer purists in the London club's end were surely aghast at the playing of music to celebrate a goal – another very American trend that has increasingly been used by clubs around the world, much to the chagrin of hardcore supporters.
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said the atmosphere at the team's first match in Atlanta on Monday was 'a bit strange' as they played in front of a mostly empty Mercedes-Benz Stadium. While this tournament, as the Confederations Cup once did in a previous era, serves as a chance for the World Cup host nation to iron out the details before the world arrives for the quadrennial tournament, the match was seen as a possible sign that FIFA's new competition was falling flat in the USA.
The crowd in Philly will have eased those fears. Despite being a 3 p.m. ET start on a work day, much of the stadium was filled – though large portions of the eastern stands, fully in the sun on this warm June day, were empty – and the noise was something to behold.
For a tournament that critics have said means nothing, the Flamengo fans at times sounded like a hair dryer directly into the ears. Their players played with the same effort and fire that their supporters were showing in the seats.
And for a team that just endured a long Premier League season in which they fought for qualification to the UEFA Champions League, Chelsea didn't exactly seem to be treating this as a stateside summer vacation. Neto celebrated his goal by pointing to the name on the back of his shirt in front of the Flamengo fans and the referee's denial of a penalty after Enzo Fernandez was knocked over in the box brought impassioned complaints to the referee.
Any other thoughts about whether this competition mattered to the players on the field vanished in the 54th minute when Flamengo's Gerson shot from the left side of the box. The attempt took a deflection and trickled toward goal. Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez threw himself at the ball, colliding with the goal post as Gonzalo Plata tried to tap in Flamengo's first goal. The shot went wide and Sanchez and Plata both ended up lying in pain on the turf.
It was full-commitment – the kind of stuff one expects to see next year when this stadium hosts five World Cup group games and a Round of 16 knockout match.
A massive save from Sanchez in the 61st minute sent supporters from both teams upward from their seats as the Flamengo supporters sensed a goal was coming. And it was Bruno Henrique, who had entered the game only minutes earlier as a second-half substitute, who showed a true goal poacher's instincts by tapping in Plata's header to send the black-and-red kitted fans into hysterics in the 62nd minute.
The stadium shook with their jumping and black and red smoke soon filled the air above the northern end of Lincoln Financial Field as the noise went to 11. A second goal just minutes later – another close-range goal from Danilo off a headed flick from Henrique – resulted in shirts being ripped off and waved in the air as the Flamengo support ascended into something akin to soccer heaven.
The atmosphere seemed to be getting deep inside Chelsea's psyche. A rash 68th-minute tackle by Nicholas Jackson, who just entered the game four minutes earlier, on Ayrton Lucas resulted in a straight red card. Chelsea was forced to play the final 22 minutes with 10 men, much to the delight of the bouncing Flamengo fans.
A third goal in the 83rd minute iced the game for Flamengo and turned the Linc into Carnival. The strike, powered past Sanchez by Wallace Yan, was the result of the kind of shambolic defending that has plagued Chelsea since its golden generation of players left the squad. The forward took advantage of the Blues' sloppy attempt to clear the ball to bury his shot, setting off a 3-1 victory party in the sunshine that any Brazilian would be proud to attend.
It was a sumptuous preview of what this stadium will look – and feel – like next year when 48 countries send their national teams to the US, Mexico, and Canada for the World Cup. The US is not nearly the soccer-crazed nation that Brazil or England are, but Friday's scenes in Philadelphia showed the kind of festival of football heading for North America in a year's time.

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CNN

8 minutes ago

• CNN

‘Our fans are feeling in fear': One year out from the World Cup, Mexico supporters are avoiding matches due to ICE concerns

When the Mexico men's national soccer team comes to Los Angeles, you tend to know about it. In March, when Javier Aguirre's team beat Panama 2-1, 68,212 people packed the stands at SoFi Stadium. Before June 14, the average attendance across the three games that El Tri had played in Inglewood in the last year was 63,760. 'We fill every single stadium because we want to feel closer to Mexico,' says Paco Rubén, founder and coordinator of US-based Mexico national team supporters' group Cielito Lindo, in an interview with CNN Sports. 'It doesn't matter if you're documented or not, we just want to feel that we're in Mexico for a day and live that party.' That all changed on June 14. Amid the backdrop of the Trump administration's federal immigration sweeps – and the resulting protests in LA and across the US – only 54,309 were at SoFi for Mexico's 3-2 victory over the Dominican Republic in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, almost 10,000 fewer than Mexico's average at SoFi over the last 12 months. The attendance was just 4,000 more than the record low at SoFi for El Tri, which came against Canada on a Thursday evening in March when the team had not won back-to-back games for nearly two years. Hours before the game on June 14, tickets that had cost an average of $75 at the box office were being sold on resale sites for less than $30, according to ESPN. 'The experience was completely different from what a normal national team game is like,' Luis Espinosa, founder and director of fan channel Sigo al Tri, tells CNN Sports. 'In the stands, it was a bit of a cold atmosphere.' One of those missing from the stadium was Rubén who, along with the entirety of Cielito Lindo, decided not to attend the match out of solidarity with those affected by the immigration sweeps in LA. 'We all saw the images of what happened a week or two weeks prior to that game, and it just didn't feel like our place was on the field at that moment,' he explains. 'It didn't feel like our place was in the stadium when most of our people – literally most of our members of the movement Cielito Lindo – were either going to be at the protest, or were going to be at home, clearly in fear, just protecting their family.' Rubén and the group did not make the decision lightly. 'I plan everything around the national team schedule,' he says. 'I can't imagine going to a wedding or to a family birthday party or to a family gathering without checking the calendar first and saying like 'Hey, you know what? Mexico plays that day. I can't go to your wedding.' My friends know I'm not lying when I say that.' The decision was also taken by Cielito Lindo – as well as the team's two other principal US-based supporters' groups, Pancho Villa's Army and Patrones de México – to cancel the pregame tailgate parties that are usually such a fixture ahead of Mexico matches. 'For us, (the pregame festivities) are the best time for us to share with our friends and to be able to give that experience to the people,' says Cielito Lindo co-coordinator Livette Ruvalcaba in an interview with CNN Sport. 'Being outside of Mexico, it's already hard enough. So that day is specifically the day we feel the most Mexican, you know? It's a time when families bring their kids, and we want to give that experience to the kids as well. 'Our soccer heart wanted to be there,' she adds. 'So it was just really hard to make the decision. We've been going to support the national team for many years, ever since I was a little girl. Now, as an actual group, it's been over 10 years non-stop that we've been going. 'But it was just really hard for us not to be all together there.' With concerns growing in some circles ahead of Saturday's Gold Cup game that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents might be present at SoFi, for many the decision not to attend was borne not only out of solidarity, but of genuine fears over their own safety and potential future in the US. Those fears were not allayed when US Customs and Border Protection, in a post to social media which has since been deleted, promised to be 'suited and booted' for the first round of the FIFA Club World Cup, which also kicked off in the US on June 14 and features two Mexican teams. The day before the game against the Dominican Republic, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum called on US authorities not to carry out immigration enforcement targeting those in attendance. CNN has reached out to ICE for comment on whether its agents have been or will be present at any matches during this year's CONCACAF Gold Cup or FIFA Club World Cup. Reports suggest that the security presence at SoFi on June 14 was normal. 'There were patrol cars and police there keeping watch, but nothing happened like we or other people expected, which was something a bit more violent,' says Espinosa. But it was too late for those who had decided not to attend, many of whom, Rubén says, are still afraid of going about their daily lives and attending upcoming soccer matches. 'Our fans are feeling in fear. Our group members are feeling in fear,' he says. 'Especially because, even if you are documented, the videos we are seeing, it doesn't seem that they're asking anybody if they're documented or not.' Those fears may well have deepened on Thursday when federal agents arrived just outside the parking lot at Dodger Stadium before an MLB game between LA and the San Diego Padres. The Dodgers claimed that they had denied ICE agents entry to the grounds, while the Department for Homeland Security claimed that the agents were not from ICE and that their presence was not related to any operation or enforcement. But, according to Rubén, concerns that ICE may target those in attendance at sports events have been brewing long before the events of the last few weeks. 'For the Gold Cup final (in 2023) at SoFi, Mexico versus Panama, Cielito Lindo sold 800 tickets – that means two sections of the stadium together,' he explains. 'For the final of the Nations League, which happened in March (this year) – but there was already all these rumors about the new administration changes and stuff like that – we only sold 50.' On that occasion, Rubén says, one family which normally buys at least 50 tickets bought just 11, telling Rubén that 'only the documented people are going to be able to go.' 'This was in March, when we didn't see any of the craziness that we've been seeing in the last two weeks. People were already in fear,' says Rubén. Many fans have felt let down by the reaction of the team's manager. When asked to comment on the situation in the buildup to the June 14 game, Aguirre – who was born in Mexico City – replied: 'I'm not a spokesperson for Mexicans. I'm the coach of the Mexican national team.' For Cielito Lindo, it was the final nail in the coffin. 'His words were literally what triggered us to make the final decision of not going because we didn't feel backed up,' Ruvalcaba tells CNN Sports. 'We've always been there,' she continues. 'We do everything to be there and support the team and try our best to pass this on to other people. And hearing those words from him literally broke our hearts because we didn't feel supported. 'I just wanted to cry, honestly,' she adds. 'We were not asking for anything more than empathy.' Aguirre was slightly more forthcoming following the game against the Dominican Republic, but still declined to make a statement on the situation in the US. 'The best way to support them is to give them more than just victory, an effort. People identify with their flag, with their anthem, with their players who give it their all. That's what concerns us,' he said. 'We are football professionals, and it's the best way to represent our fellow countrymen in this moment – a complicated moment. We have to do our part on the field.' But, with Mexican soccer entering one of the biggest years in its history and President Donald Trump's immigration agenda remaining difficult to predict, it seems unlikely that this discussion will simply go away. The June 14 game against the Dominican Republic was the first in Mexico's efforts to defend the Gold Cup title it won in 2023. The win, coupled with a second victory over Suriname on Wednesday night, means that Mexico has already qualified for the quarterfinals. But Cielito Lindo will not be there to see whether the team can retain the crown, having taken the decision on Tuesday night not to attend any of the remaining Gold Cup fixtures. 'We were going to be in (Las) Vegas this weekend, and then we were going to be in Phoenix next weekend, and we were going to be in Texas for the final. So we already had flight reservations, hotel reservations, party reservations, you name it,' says Rubén. 'But it definitely wouldn't feel right leaving our friends and family behind, knowing that they couldn't be there. We have really close friends in particular that were going to be at this game in Vegas with us, and they were just like, 'I can't even go out of my house right now.'' The absence of one of the national team's three largest US-based supporters' groups could indicate the start of a worrying period for Mexican soccer ahead of a busy stateside schedule. Alongside the national team's efforts, CF Monterrey and CF Pachuca are both currently representing the nation against some of the biggest teams on the planet in the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup. Looming even larger is the 2026 World Cup, which Mexico will host for the first time since 1986, alongside the US and Canada. With less than a year until the first game kicks off at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, fans are concerned that further raids could overshadow what is meant to be a joyous occasion. 'We hope this is something that's very short and we can move on from it and just go ahead and celebrate because we are a very happy people,' Sigo al Tri member Rafael Baqueiro tells CNN Sports. 'We hope we can move on from this and keep going towards the World Cup. Mexico needs that push and that the fans be present.' Espinosa is in agreement. 'The fear that our compatriots carry in terms of different situations regarding documentation or legality in the United States is noticeable, and it's something that unfortunately could occur in upcoming games or even in the next World Cup,' he says. 'We wish with all our strength that there is no violence. Don't endanger the integrity of our compatriots, nor our friends that we have there (in the US).'

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18 minutes ago

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Yahoo

19 minutes ago

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Contributor: Baseball is mostly mistakes. How else can we learn grace?

If only! On June 18, 2014, the airwaves and the internet lit up in collective awe at one of the greatest athletic feats in modern history. Clayton Kershaw recorded 15 strikeouts in a 107-pitch no-hitter that many consider the best single-game pitching performance of all time. The asterisk of this epic Dodgers game was the one error in the seventh inning that prevented its official recognition as a 'perfect game': When the Rockies' Corey Dickerson tapped the ball toward the mound, Dodgers shortstop Hanley Ramirez botched a throw to first base, and Dickerson made it to second. If only Ramirez had made the play at first! If only coach Don Mattingly hadn't substituted the ailing Ramirez one inning prior! Los Angeles was one bruised right finger away from celebrating perfection. Advertisement Baseball has a celebrated history of quantifying value. No professional sport embraces numbers and statistics in the way baseball does. Statisticians are as much a part of the game as the dirt, chalk and grass. Although baseball has been collecting data since the late 1800s, the empiric statistical analysis that is part of our game today dates back to 1977 with the introduction of sabermetrics. It's critical to the game: How else are we to determine success when the majority of what we see is failure? The best hitters in baseball are those who only fail less than 70% of the time; in other words, have a batting average over .300. These perennial all-stars will experience the dissatisfaction and humility of an out in 7 out of every 10 plate appearances. In what other profession can you fail 70% of the time and be considered one of the greats? Consider the mental strength required to accept failure as part of the game and the focus to view each at-bat as an opportunity to fail a little bit less. We need a similar kind of thinking in life to quantify value in our failure rates. A 'perfect game' is defined by Major League Baseball as a game in which a team pitches a victory that lasts a minimum of nine innings and in which no opposing player reaches base. It's so rare because failure — by pitchers as well as batters — is expected as a matter of course. Francis Thomas Vincent Jr., the eighth commissioner of MLB, is quoted as saying: 'Baseball teaches us, or has taught most of us, how to deal with failure. We learn at a very young age that failure is the norm in baseball and, precisely because we have failed, we hold in high regard those who fail less often — those who hit safely in one out of three chances and become star players. I also find it fascinating that baseball, alone in sport, considers errors to be part of the game, part of its rigorous truth.' Advertisement On June 19, 2014, the fans and commentators of baseball praised in dramatic fashion Kershaw's dominant no-hitter, but with a subtle tone of confusion and denial of the ugly blemish recorded across the team's box score: 0-0-1. Zero runs. Zero hits. One error. One base runner. An imperfect game. If only! The collective hope for perfection is understandable. Most people are afraid to fail. Parades aren't held for the runner-up. Grades aren't given just for trying. Job promotions aren't offered for making mistakes. Placing perfection on a pedestal relieves the collective anxiety — but prohibits the opportunity — of accepting failure as an integral part of life. For an individual, failure is an opportunity to grow and become a better person. For a business, failure is an opportunity to pivot and redefine success. The opposite of perfection is not failure. It is accepting the opportunity to learn from transgressions. Winston Churchill once quipped, 'The maxim, 'Nothing prevails but perfection,' may be spelled P-A-R-A-L-Y-S-I-S.' Almost to the day, 75 years before Kershaw's no-hitter, the world of sports witnessed the catastrophic reality of paralysis. In June 1939, after a week of extensive testing at the Mayo Clinic, Lou Gehrig announced to the world that he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. This announcement happened to fall on his 36th birthday. This represented the end of Gehrig's illustrious baseball career. But 75 years later, what is remembered about this man is not his career batting average of .340, seven-time All-Star appearances, six-time World Series championships, winning of the Triple Crown or two-time league MVP. Sabermetrics could not possibly explain Gehrig's value to the sport. What endures is what no statistic can capture: his grace. His humility. His courage in the face of loss. What is remembered and honored is his response to the ultimate 'failure': a failure of upper and lower motor neurons to make necessary connections that ultimately leads to rapidly progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. In defiance to an illness that is uniformly fatal, Gehrig paid homage to his teammates, professional members of the MLB and its fans by proclaiming himself 'the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.' Advertisement Similarly, sabermetrics misses the true greatness of Kershaw's no-hitter. What could never be displayed in statistics or numbers was Kershaw's response to the error. After Ramirez's throwing error, his hat lay at the base of Kershaw's pitching mound. As I watched from the stands, I could not hear what Kershaw said to Ramirez as he picked it up, dusted off and handed the hat back to his humiliated teammate. But his body language appeared unbelievably humble, accepting and supportive, as if to recognize the lesson of baseball, which is that errors are a celebrated part of the game. To dwell on errors and think 'if only' leads to disappointment and blame, but to accept and embrace imperfections with a positive and optimistic attitude defines the ultimate success. If only we could all be that perfect. Josh Diamond is a physician in private practice in Los Angeles and a lifelong Dodgers fan. Some of his earliest memories are of attending games with his father; he now shares his love of the Dodgers with his son. If it's in the news right now, the L.A. Times' Opinion section covers it. Sign up for our weekly opinion newsletter. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.