Sparse crowd attends Club World Cup match delayed by storms between Sundowns, Ulsan HD
The Club World Cup has seen its share of quirky moments in its first week, but perhaps the most unusual match so far was Tuesday night's Group F clash between South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns and South Korea's Ulsan HD.
Mamelodi eventually emerged as a 1-0 victor, boosting its chances of progressing to the knockout stage, but not before a lengthy delay led to speculation the game might be called off, alongside concerns that the Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando, Fla., would be virtually empty.
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Kickoff was scheduled for 6 p.m. ET but did not take place until more than an hour later, with referee Clement Turpin ordering the players from the field just before the regular start time as inclement weather descended upon the region.
Fears of nearby thunderstorms caused a 65-minute postponement, before the skies cleared and the game got underway in Central Florida with temperatures topping 90 degrees.
If there was one positive to the delays, it was that a few more people had time to get into the stadium and take their seats. Shortly before kickoff, reports of a paltry crowd started to emerge, with one social media post suggesting just 97 fans were stationed inside the stadium, which has a capacity of 25,500.
Even later, huge banks of vacant seating could be seen, despite the best efforts of the broadcasters to avoid training the camera's focus on the most sparse sections.
FIFA announced an official crowd of 3,142, by far the lowest of the tournament, so far, not helped by the midweek kickoff and comparatively low global stature of the two teams.
Attendance has been an issue in some of the tournament games so far. A Group D match between LAFC and Chelsea, despite it being an MLS team and one of the Premier League's most popular sides, only drew around 22,000 in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which holds roughly 71,000.
Iqraam Rayners scored the only goal of the game for the Sundowns, producing a fine finish after 36 minutes to become the first player from an African team to score at this Club World Cup, as Mamelodi took a deserved advantage. Despite Ulsan's comeback efforts in the second half, the Sundowns held on relatively comfortably.
Mamelodi's win moved them atop a group that also includes heavyweights Borussia Dortmund of Germany and Brazil's Fluminense, who fought to a goalless draw earlier in the day.
Mamelodi takes on Dortmund in Cincinnati on Saturday, where a shock victory would be enough to secure a place in the Round of 16. Ulsan will try to revitalize its campaign against Fluminense at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the same day.
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