The FIFA Club World Cup started on 0-0 with on Saturday night (14) with a starry game: Inter de Miami by Argentine Lionel Messi entered the field – with players being announced one by one by the microphone – against Egyptian Al Ahly, last year’s African champion. The match was played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
The match opened the championship, a revamped and expanded version of the Club World Cup. The differences are several, starting with the 32 participating teams playing in a group stage. The ceremony of musical and pyrotechnic opening, La Olympics, also differentiated the championships.
In the first half, Al Ahly dominated the match. The attack of the Egyptian team was faster and more organized than the American rival, but failed to finish the plays. The only finishing to the goal was prevented. Even the opportunities to hit foul and penalty ended up without a goal.
Inter returned to the most aggressive field in the second half, with dangerous moves and right attempts to the goal. The players of the American team were also harder in the faults on the Egyptian team. At the end of the match, Al Ahly rehearsed a reaction, but it was not enough to change the result.
Al Ahly qualified for the championship with the 2024 African regional title – the team is the largest champion of the continent, with 12 titles.
The game was the debut of the new coach of the team, José Riveiro. The Spaniard took over Al Ahly on May 29, two weeks before the club’s World Cup debut. Former coach Marcel Koller was fired after the team was eliminated from the national tournament.
Inter de Miami, founded in 2018, arrived at the Club World Cup for the MLS campaign (Major League Soccer). The cast is filled with veteran stars: Messi, the team’s star, Uruguayan Luis Alberto Suárez, Spanish Sergio Busquets. Al Ahly, with fewer underlined names, is home to seven summoned by the Egyptian team.
Al Ahly and Inter Miami are in the same key as Palmeiras, which plays this Sunday (15) with Porto. In addition to Palmeiras, they also compete for Botafogo, Fluminense and Flamengo. Botafogo faces Seattle Sounders also on Sunday. Fluminense debuts on Tuesday (17), against Borussia Dortmund and Flamengo, on Monday (16) against Esperánce, Tunisia.
