Juventus thump Al Ain in Club World Cup after Trump visit

New Straits Times

5 hours ago

WASHINGTON: 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.
"You don't go to the White House every day, so it was a real pleasure to go there," said Juventus coach Igor Tudor.
"(In the game) we did a number of excellent things, we played at a good tempo... all things considered it's a good start."
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.
"The team had a great game, we're happy, we'll get ready for the next game," said Kolo Muani.
"I just want to play well for my team-mates, for the club, and we'll see (how many I can) score."
It is unlikely to get any easier for Al Ain as they next face Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in Atlanta.
"We respected (Juventus) more than we needed to at the beginning and this was something that let them score two or three goals easily," said Al Ain's Serbian coach Vladimir Ivic.