“We against Paris and Real.” The FIFA Club World Cup finally gets some attention in Germany, remembers the headline of Tabloid Bild. This Saturday (5), the country has an extra excuse to face the scorching early European summer in bars and “Biergartens”, as Bayern and Borussia Dortmund will be on the field for the quarterfinals of the competition.
To say that the controversial cup excites the Germans is an exaggeration. The fact, also experienced by Brazilians, to have two clubs in the knockout, reinforced by champions-looking duels, naturally impose the competition on the fans this weekend. It also helps matches happen at more affordable times in Europe: PSG and Bayern face at 18h (13h of Brasilia), and Dortmund faces Real Madrid from 22h (17h).
The best game in the fourth place in the last Bundesliga, the 2-1 win over Monterrey, in the round of 16, started at 3am on the German clocks. Although the classification has € 50 million (R $ 313 million) to Dortmund, it is necessary to be a fanatic to face football in the middle of dawn on weekdays, not to mention the risk of climatic conditions interrupting the dispute, one of the brands of the American tournament so far.
According to the most famous German technician today, neither the millions justify the effort. In an interview with Welt Am Sonntag, Jurgen Klopp, former Liverpool coach and today Red Bull’s global football director, said the club’s Cup is “the worst idea ever implemented in football” due to “serious concerns” about the well-being of players.
“The important thing is the game, not the events that surround it,” he said. “People who have never had or have nothing to do with business are inventing things.”
For Klopp, who had a team in the tournament – Salzburg, eliminated in the group stage – even though there is “an insane amount of money involved in the competition”, few clubs will end up benefiting and at a very high cost of athletes.
“Last year was the Copa America and Euro, this year is the Club World Cup and next year is the World Cup. This means there is no real recovery for the players involved, neither physical nor mentally,” said the now executive, noting that the FIFA calendar is abbreviated the holidays of European football, which take place in the middle of the year. “We have to ensure that athletes have intervals, because if they do not, they will be unable to maintain a high level performance. And if they do not get it, the whole product loses value.”
Klopp, world champion in the old format driving Liverpool in 2019, with a 1-0 win over Flamengo in the final, gained support from Pep Guardiola. Manchester City coach said the World Cup could “destroy” the 2025/26 season of his team. No more, because City was eliminated in the round of 16 by Al-Hilal the day after the statement.
Empty stadiums, bad times and the strong heat of some arenas in the US complete the list of European criticism of the tournament, certainly contaminated by the pace of vacation and the ignorance of the opponents. The newsletter editor of an important German economic newspaper committed a “Palmeiras Sao Paulo” and a “Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro” when writing about Friday’s round (4).
There is also an emotional argument to move the Club World Cup in Germany. Veteran Thomas Muller, 35, star of the national team and Bayern, says goodbye to the Munich club and perhaps football in this World Cup. Champion in the old format with Bayern in 2013 and 2020, Muller does not expect to be a starter against PSG, current holder of the Champions title. “In tournaments like this, what matters is the short -term perspective. So if you get the task of safely conducting a match played in the last fifteen minutes, there is not much to think about.”
