Will a South American team win the Club World Cup?
Flamengo boss Filipe Luis says a team from South America can win the Fifa Club World Cup after an impressive start to the tournament by clubs from Brazil and Argentina.After Botafogo defeated Champions League winners Paris St-Germain 1-0, fellow Brazilian side Flamengo came from behind to beat Uefa Conference League winners Chelsea 3-1.There are six teams from South America taking part in the new 32-team format - Palmeiras, Botafogo, Flamengo and Fluminense from Brazil, while Boca Juniors and River Plate are representing Argentina.All six are unbeaten after nine matches - with Palmeiras, Botafogo, Flamengo and River Plate topping their respective groups.No team from Brazil has won the Club World Cup since Corinthians beat Chelsea in the final of the 2012 edition. Since then all the winners have come from Europe.Meanwhile, no team from Argentina has won the tournament since it was founded in 2000."First of all I'm surprised South American teams are unbeaten, because I know the quality of European football," said Flamengo boss Luis after masterminding a win over his former club Chelsea."Anybody can win. That's football. It wouldn't surprise me [if a South American team won it]."
Played nine, won six, lost none
Could the fact that it is mid-season in South America have anything to do with their good results so far?European teams went into the Club World Cup on the back of long seasons.Palmeiras top Group A with four points from two games, while Botafogo have won both their games in Group B.Boca Juniors' only Group C game so far ended in a 2-2 draw with Benfica.Flamengo top Group D with six points from two games after wins over ES Tunis of Tunisia and Chelsea.Meanwhile, River Plate's only game so far ended in a 2-0 win over Japan's Urawa Red Diamonds, while Fluminense held Borussia Dortmund to a 0-0 draw."I'm surprised at these results," added Luis."Sometimes the weather, they're not used to this, but the South American clubs are very competitive and not always the best win the Copa Libertadores. "There's different grass, altitudes, so we have a lot of adaptations and are used to that."
'I can compete with European players'
Flamengo overturned a first-half deficit to defeat Chelsea 3-1, with second-half goals from Bruno Henrique, Danilo, and Wallace Yan securing their second win in the tournament.Their cause was helped by Nicolas Jackson's straight red card soon after the Chelsea substitute came on.Thousands of Flamengo fans, who have travelled to the United States to cheer on their side, celebrated wildly after the final whistle at Lincoln Financial Field."The players are waiting to show 'I can compete against European players'," former Flamengo midfielder Kleberson told DAZN.Flamengo's team included former Chelsea midfielder Jorginho."We were really confident and we know in these big games the details make the difference," Jorginho told DAZN."Overall we were really good in the first half so we said at half-time, 'let's keep pushing'."We found the little spots that could hurt them."
'I made the right choice to stay in Brazil'
Botafogo, the 2024 winners of the Copa Libertadores, pulled off the biggest surprise of the tournament so far with a 1-0 victory over European champions Paris St-Germain."One team was the champion of the Champions League, the other team was the champion of South America," said goalscorer Igor Jesus, who had been strongly linked with a move to Nottingham Forest earlier this year before opting to stay with the Brazilians to play in the Club World Cup."I think I made the right choice to stay in Botafogo," he added.
Botafogo defended superbly to keep out Luis Enrique's side."This PSG side is a lesson to everybody in football and I told my guys to just be a team, enjoy, play together, attack together, defend together," added Botafogo boss Renato Paiva."We showed the quality of Brazilian players and the coaches."This is a victory of all the coaches that are working in Brazil, working with great players and Brazil will always be in world football."
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The Independent
an hour ago
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