The Arab team settled the process with goals from Romarinho, N'Golo Kanté and Karim Benzema. In the next instance it will be measured
Al-Ittihad had a solid debut in the first round of the Club World Cup. Their 3-0 victory against Auckland City of New Zealand qualified them for the next phase, where Al Ahly of Egypt awaits. The twentieth edition of the competition takes place from December 12 to 22 in Saudi Arabia and is the latest version with a seven-team format, since the next one will move to the United States and will have 32 participants.
The opening ceremony of the tournament gave way to the beginning of the actions in the Asian country under heavy rain and the local squad gave the support of the public on the field. The permanent high pressure distinguished those led by Gallardo, who did not take long to have opportunities to unlevel the score.
After Romarinho missed a shot from distance, the Tigres had the most dangerous action with a low cross from N'Golo Kanté, which was rejected by the rival defense towards the middle and, on the rebound, Igor Coronado missed the goal with a deflected shot at 12 minutes. Moments later, Karim Benzema and Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti were also not fine in the final blow.
The inefficiency left the result open, although goalkeeper Marcelo Grohe was a luxurious spectator in the face of the complications exhibited by the Navy Blues to hold the ball and cross the middle of the field clearly. In the midst of this context, parity was broken before half an hour of play. A long ball from the New Zealand goalkeeper, Conor Tracey, left his team very long and Al Ittihad did not forgive in the quick transition.
At 28 minutes, Romarinho made it 1-0 with a shot that included a deflection off Nathan Lobo. Gaps appeared more easily and individual talent prevailed in the process. After a rejection by Tracey after a corner, Kanté scored with a volley to make it 2-0 at 33'. Seven later, Benzema reconciled himself with the goal to score the 3-0.
The beginning of the complement had a similar tone to the first 45 minutes. The notorious dominance of Al Ittihad transformed Conor Tracey into a figure, who drowned out Igor Coronado with a huge save. The oceanic champions had few tools to counteract the Arab power in their brief forays into opposing territory and the match was resolved as the minutes passed.
Those led by Marcelo Gallardo will return to the ring in the Club World Cup next Friday from 3 p.m. against Al Ahly of Egypt and, if they pass that key, they will face Fluminense in the semifinals on Monday the 18th starting at the same time. On the opposing side of the draw, Manchester City is already waiting among the top four for the winner of León from Mexico and Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan.
In this way, Al Ittihad will have the possibility of matching its best performance in a Club World Cup, as happened in 2005 (only participation), when it reached the semifinals after eliminating Al-Ahly of Egypt and losing against San Pablo of Brazil 3-2. The São Paulo team then became champions by beating Liverpool, while the Saudis finished fourth by losing against Deportivo Saprissa of Costa Rica.
The New Zealanders, who have within their squad the Uruguayan Sebastián Ciganda and the Argentine Emiliano Tade (one of the top scorers in this competition), are almost a fixture in Oceania within this competition, since it was their eleventh appearance. His best performance was in 2014, when he got on the podium by finishing in third place. They beat Moghreb Tétouan of Morocco on penalties and Sétif of Algeria 1-0. In the semifinals they lost 2-1 against San Lorenzo and then recovered by winning on penalties against Cruz Azul of Mexico.
790.896 SRY