Juventus thump Al Ain in Club World Cup

Express Tribune

2 days ago

JuventusPortuguese forward Francisco Conceicao celebrated with Randal Kolo Muani as they thrashed Al Ain in Washington. Photo: AFP
Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceicao both bagged braces as Juventus hammered Al Ain 5-0 on Wednesday in their Club World Cup opener following a trip to the White House.
The Italian giants, who sent a delegation to visit US President Donald Trump earlier in the day, cruised to the top of Group G above Manchester City, who beat Wydad AC.
Some Juventus players and staff were asked by Trump, whom they presented with a club shirt, whether they thought a woman would be able to make their first team. Trump appeared to be making a point against transgender athletes.
Juve general manager Damien Comolli replied that the club had a "very good women's team".
The Juventus players stayed silent but were far more comfortable speaking on the pitch as they dismantled UAE's Al Ain at Audi Field in front of 18,000 fans.
Kolo Muani, who extended his loan from Paris Saint-Germain to play in the tournament in the United States, opened the scoring after 11 minutes with a header from Alberto Costa's cross.
Juventus doubled their lead 10 minutes later when Conceicao, on loan from Porto, skipped away from one defender in the box before firing home with the help of a deflection.
Turkish forward Kenan Yildiz netted the third after 31 minutes, carving out some space on the edge of the box and drilling in at the near post.
French striker Kolo Muani grabbed his second with a deft finish in first-half stoppage time to pile on the misery for Al Ain.
Kouame Autonne had a goal disallowed for offside for the UAE side before Conceicao struck again, benefitting from another slight deflection.
Kolo Muani might have completed his hat-trick when sent through but goalkeeper Rui Patricio shut him down well, and Douglas Luiz blasted narrowly off-target late on.
Juventus, who finished fourth in Serie A, are hoping to make up for a trophyless season with success in the United States this summer.
Frustrated Madrid
Federico Valverde missed a stoppage-time penalty as Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal in the Club World Cup on Wednesday.
A large contingent of Real fans in a crowd of 62,415 at the Hard Rock Stadium were left frustrated after new manager Xabi Alonso's first game in charged ended with the points shared.
For the Saudi club, with Italian Simone Inzaghi also making his debut on the bench, it was an impressive performance where they caused Real's defence plenty of problems before securing a hugely encouraging surprise result.
Al-Hilal started off in effervescent fashion and went close in the 19th minute when Salem Aldawsari volleyed back in to the box and Marcos Leonardo's effort flew just wide.
Renan Lodi had the ball in the net for the Saudi side but the effort was ruled out for offside from another dangerous break Aldawsari showed his pace but dragged his shot just wide. Real gradually gained more control over the game and Rodrygo went close in the 31st minute when he cut in from the right and his left-foot effort zipped just over the bar.
But Real's quality was starting to shine through and they grabbed the lead in the 34th minute.
Gonzalo, starting in place of the absent Kylian Mbappe, started the break from deep and a clever exchange of passes concluded with Rodrygo drilling a low ball into the box where Gonzalo, who had continued his run, provided a delicate finish. It was a classic counter-attacking goal but it did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of the Saudi side who continued to press forward with energy.
Four minutes before the break, they drew level when Raul Asencio was ruled to have pulled down Marcos Leonardo and Portugal international Ruben Neves calmly tucked away the penalty.
The dangerous Aldawsari, who scored the winner for Saudi Arabia in their upset win over Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar, threatened again just before the break.
But Real came out strongly after the interval with Arda Guler introduced at the break rattling the bar with a volley from a Vinicius Jr. cross.
Moments later, Gonzalo brought a fine save out of Yassine Bounou with a firm header from a Vinicius crosss and then Valverde flashed a shot wide from 25 yards out.