Football: Urawa to represent J-League at revamped Club World Cup
KYODO NEWS - 14 hours ago - 10:01 | Sports, All
Urawa Reds will fly the flag as Japan's sole representative at the new 32-team Club World Cup kicking off Saturday in the United States, where hefty bonuses await the winner of each match, let alone the entire month-long tournament.
Earning entry via their 2022-23 Asian Champions League triumph, Reds fittingly became Japan's inaugural entry in the overhauled event as winners of three continental titles, more than any other Japanese club.
Qualification has already earned them $9.55 million and any group-stage win will net a further $2 million, with that amount to be split between the two sides in the event of a draw. The prize-money balloons from the round of 16 onward, with the eventual winners pocketing some $125 million in total.
The competition will feature continental champions from 2021 to 2024, as well as teams with a high standing in their respective confederations' club rankings during the period, with a maximum of two clubs from any country.
"The 32 best club teams in the world will determine, for the first time in history, which club, which team, is the best," FIFA President Gianni Infantino said.
The tournament's addition to an already congested footballing calendar raised eyebrows, especially for European clubs who have just wrapped up their draining domestic seasons, but it represents an invaluable opportunity for Urawa to square off with some of the world's top sides.
The draw has placed them in a tough but intriguing Group E featuring Argentina's River Plate, led by 17-year-old wonderkid Franco Mastantuono, Italian giants Inter Milan, who made this year's UEFA Champions League final, and Mexican powerhouse Monterrey.
"I want Urawa to show they can more than compete with anyone on the world stage," former Japan captain and Urawa player Makoto Hasebe said in a video message in March as the trophy was exhibited at their Saitama Stadium.
Prior to the latest alteration, the Toyota Cup pitted European and South American champions in a one-off decider in Japan before it was expanded to the previous edition of the Club World Cup in 2005, contested by six continental champions and a side from the host nation.
Urawa's best outing to date in the tournament came in 2007 when the Asian champions lost 1-0 to Kaka-inspired AC Milan in the semifinals but beat Etoile Sahel of Tunisia in the third-place match 4-2 on penalties following a 2-2 draw.
Recently crowned European champions Paris Saint-Germain join Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich as favorites to lift the new trophy, while the spotlight will fall on 38-year-old Lionel Messi after his Inter Miami claimed the host's slot.
Urawa arrive in the United States on the back of a decent domestic season so far, sitting third and six points off the top midway through the J1 campaign, having played two games more than leaders Kashima Antlers.
Kashima, the 2018 ACL winners, incidentally had the best run at the Club World Cup two years earlier as host representative, reaching the final where they lost 4-2 in extra time to Real Madrid, a feat that Urawa goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa hopes his team can emulate.
"In order to tell the world how wonderful the J-League is, we need to produce a good result," said the veteran who is set to play in the Club World Cup for the fourth time.
"Earning at least a point in the opener is the most important thing and we want to focus on that (for now)."
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