Latest news with #Benfica


New Straits Times
32 minutes ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Benfica knock out Auckland in delayed Club World Cup romp
ORLANDO: Benfica sailed to a 6-0 win to eliminate Auckland City from the Club World Cup on Friday in Orlando in a match which suffered a long weather delay, with Angel Di Maria netting two penalties. With the Portuguese side leading by a goal at half-time the match was suspended because of a storm, eventually resuming two hours later. "This is the longest game of my career, a special thanks to our fans, who have been here for five hours supporting the team," said Benfica coach Bruno Lage. "We played as well as we could. The (hot) temperature made it very difficult." Featured Videos Auckland of New Zealand, the only Oceania Football Confederation representatives at the tournament, were thrashed 10-0 by Bayern Munich in their Group C opener and this defeat sealed their fate. Despite their eventual collapse, Auckland battled hard in the first half and almost made it to the break unscathed. Auckland goalkeeper Nathan Garrow made several good saves to keep Benfica at bay and the Portuguese side grew frustrated. Benfica took the lead deep into first half stoppage time when Gianluca Prestianni was clumsily felled in the area by Haris Zeb. Di Maria, who converted a spot-kick in the opening 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors, sent Garrow the wrong way. At half-time the match became the fourth in the last four days at the tournament to be impacted by a suspension for adverse conditions, with a storm arriving at the Inter&Co Stadium. When play eventually resumed, Benfica came back out strongly. Vangelis Pavlidis bundled his way through and smashed home to double Bruno Lage's team's lead in the 53rd minute, with Renato Sanches netting the third 10 minutes later from outside the box with a deflected effort. Luxembourg midfielder Leandro Barreiro bagged a brace to expand Benfica's lead, tucking home at the back post from Pavlidis' cross for the fourth before netting from close range. Nikko Boxall brought down Di Maria in stoppage time and the Argentine World Cup winner beat Garrow from the spot again to wrap up Benfica's emphatic triumph. It was his third goal of the competition, bringing him level with Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala as the top scorers. Later Friday German giants Bayern take on Argentine outfit Boca Juniors in the other Group C match. Auckland coach Paul Posa, back on the bench after minor surgery stopped him joining up earlier with the team, said despite elimination his side would try their hardest in the final match against Boca on Tuesday in Nashville. "We will give it our absolute best shot, 100 percent guarantee that," he explained. "We don't get these opportunities, it's very rare for us to play teams of these quality, it has just about never happened and may be a long time before it happens again.


Fox Sports
35 minutes ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Auckland City Gets Routed for 2nd Straight Time at Club World Cup
Five days after losing 10-0 to FC Bayern, Auckland City was routed again, at the hands of Benfica. Angel Di Maria and Leandro Barreiro each scored two goals on Friday to help the Portugese-based club, Benfica, to defeat Auckland City 6-0 in a Club World Cup game that was delayed at halftime because of thunder and lightning. Di María, who teamed with Lionel Messi to win the 2022 World Cup with Argentina, scored his first goal from the penalty spot deep into added time at the end of the first half. His second score, and the team's sixth, was again from the penalty spot and in added time at the end of the match. Auckland City exchanged counterattacks with the Portuguese powerhouse in the first half of the Group C match, but was still outshot 18-1. The second half went Benfica's way. Vangelis Pavlidis made it 2-0 in the 53rd minute, Renato Sanches scored a short time later and Barreiro then scored a pair of goals to increase the lead to 5-0. A thunderstorm delayed the start of the second half for more than two hours. When the match resumed at Inter&Co Stadium, the goals came pouring in for Benfica. Key moment Auckland midfielder Tong Zhou went down with an apparent head injury just before halftime. Trainers attended to Zhou on the field, and Benfica defender Alvaro Carreras complained about the delay. He was given a yellow card after a spat with game officials. Takeaways With the win, Benfica has four points in Group C. Bayern Munich, which beat Auckland City 10-0 in its opening match, plays Boca Juniors later Friday in Miami Gardens, Florida. What they said "It was very good. We are happy to play here." — Benfica coach Bruno Lage. "I'm a little bit frustrated. The first half was solid. It was just very disappointing to concede a goal. I think the guys are going to be a little bit disappointed in the scoreline." — Auckland coach Paul Posa. Reporting by The Associated Press. Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily! recommended Get more from FIFA Club World Cup Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

ABC News
an hour ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Auckland City thumped 6-0 at Club World Cup by Benfica
Auckland City has been thumped 6-0 by Benfica in a Club World Cup game that was delayed at half-time because of thunder and lightning. The 2025 A-League Men premiers might have preferred the match be called off rather than delayed with the score at 1-0, as things got out of hand in the second half to leave the New Zealanders with a 0-16 goal difference after a first-up loss to German giants Bayern Munich. 2022 World Cup winner Ángel Di María scored his first goal from the penalty spot deep into added time at the end of the first half and his second, the team's sixth, was again from the penalty spot in added time at the end of the match. Leandro Barreiro also nabbed a double. Auckland City exchanged counterattacks with the Portuguese powerhouse in the first half of the Group C match, but was still outshot 18-1 and things got out of hand after the weather delay. "I'm a little bit frustrated," Auckland coach Paul Posa said. "The first half was solid. It was just very disappointing to concede a goal. I think the guys are going to be a little bit disappointed in the scoreline." A thunderstorm delayed the start of the second half in Orlando for more than 2 hours and when the match resumed, the goals came pouring in for Benfica. Vangelis Pavlidis made it 2-0 in the 53rd minute, Renato Sanches scored a short time later and Barreiro then scored a pair of goals to increase the lead to 5-0. Auckland midfielder Tong Zhou went down with an apparent head injury just before half-time. Trainers attended to Zhou on the field, and Benfica defender Alvaro Carreras complained about the delay. He was given a yellow card after a spat with game officials. Auckland's final game in the group stage will be a mid-week clash against Argentina's Boca Juniors in Nashville. AP


The Hindu
an hour ago
- Sport
- The Hindu
FIFA Club World Cup: Benfica triumphs in lopsided, weather-delayed win over Auckland
Leandro Barreiro scored in the 76th and 78th minutes as Benfica pulled away to a 6-0 victory over semi-pro side Auckland City in a Group C encounter Friday, one plagued by a lengthy halftime weather delay. Angel Di María converted twice from the penalty spot for his second and third goals of the tournament, once in stoppage time of each half. Vangelis Pavlidis and Renato Sanches added goals early in the second half after play finally restarted. The Portuguese victors pressured until the end, knowing goal differential could determine who advances to the FIFA Club World Cup knockout phase, and Di María earned a second penalty shot with one final slaloming run into the box. Benfica will close Group C against Bayern Munich, which defeated Auckland 10-0 in their opener. Officially eliminated, Auckland will play Boca Juniors on Matchday 3 on Tuesday. Boca and Benfica drew 2-2 on Monday. After Auckland's Nathan Garrow made seven first-half stops, Di Maria finally put Benfica in front in the eighth minute of first-half stoppage time. Gianluca Prestianni won the opportunity, slicing into the right corner of the box and weathering Haris Zeb's late sliding challenge. ALSO READ: Flamengo fights back to stun Chelsea 3-1 and stay top of Group D Di Maria calmly converted, allowing Garrow to guess in the wrong direction before dispatching his side-footed effort. That eased some growing frustration from the Portuguese favourites after a succession of missed chances and 18 total first-half shot attempts. Amid that stretch, Alvaro Carreras picked up his second caution of the tournament, meaning he'll be suspended for Benfica's third match against River Plate on Tuesday. Auckland began the second half energetically after the match was delayed approximately two hours and nine minutes due to inclement weather. But Benfica doubled its advantage in the 53rd minute through Pavlidis, who received Orkun Kokcu's pass inside the penalty area with his back to the goal, turned, neatly evaded a lunging challenge and finished low to the left post. In the 63rd minute, substitute Sanches made it 3-0 only moments after his second-half introduction. His shot from beyond the area took a heavy deflection off Auckland's Matthew Ellis on its way into the bottom right corner.

RNZ News
an hour ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Football: Auckland City trounced by Benfica in second heavy Club World Cup defeat
Auckland City FC goalkeeper Nathan Garrow (R) clears against Benfica. Photo: photosport Auckland City's slim hopes of advancing through the pool stage at the FIFA Club World Cup are over after a second humbling defeat, trounced 6-0 by Benfica. The Navy Blues capitulated in the second half after trailing the Portuguese side 1-0 at the interval, in a performance which followed up a 10-0 thrashing from German giants Bayern Munich in their opener . The results mean Auckland City have no chance of qualifying for the knockout stage, and will only be playing for pride in their final match against Argentina side Boca Juniors on Wednesday morning (NZT). This morning's match featured a delay of more than two hours at halftime due to a heavy storm, at which stage Auckland trailed 1-0. At that stage they had defended more stubbornly than the rout against Bayern Munich, led by a series of quality saves by goalkeeper Nathan Garrow. SL Benfica's Angel Di Maria and Auckland City FC's Haris Zeb. FIFA Club World Cup USA 2025, S.L. Benfica v Auckland City FC, Inter & Co Stadium, Orlando, Friday 20 June 2025. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Photo: photosport The dam burst on the stroke of halftime when former Manchester United star Angel di Maria converted from the penalty spot. The lengthy halftime delay may have affected semi-professional Auckland's focus as Benfica's mountain of attacking raids started to find creaks in the defence. Vangelis Pavlidis and Renato Sanches added goals soon after the break, before Leandro Barreiro scored in the 76th and 78th minutes and Di Maria converted a second goal from the spot to round out the scoring. - RNZ / Reuters Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.