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Al-Ahram Weekly
a day ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Club World Cup marked by empty seats, searing heat, weather-delayed matches and Chelsea victory
Among the lasting lessons was FIFA's decision to dramatically drop ticket costs as some kickoff times approached, which could impact decisions by fans thinking of attending next year's World Cup. FIFA lowered the cost to attend the Chelsea-Fluminense semifinal at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, to $13.40 from $473.90, then dropped the Chelsea-Paris Saint-Germain final from $330 to $199.60. There will be 104 matches at next year's expanded 48-nation World Cup and many are likely to be on weekday afternoons. FIFA has not said whether it will use dynamic pricing and refused to comment on discounting. The 63 matches drew 2.49 million, about 62% of the listed capacity. FIFA refused to disclose tournament capacities of venues, focusing on tickets sold rather than about 1.5 million unfilled seats, and would not address price cuts. FIFA president Gianni Infantino assessed the expanded tournament he championed, saying: 'it is already most successful club competition in the world.' Former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp was less enthusiastic, telling the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag it was 'the worst idea ever implemented in football' because of demands on players as a result of the extended season. PSG played its 65th competitive match and Chelsea its 64th since starting in mid-August. Each team will have 33-35 days off before 2025-26 openers. 'I told my players that I had the feeling that this competition will become just as important or even more important than the Champions League,' Chelsea manager Enzo Maresco said. Maresca called the heat dangerous. Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kovač said the grass at MetLife Stadium, site of next year's World Cup final, was so short 'it's more a golf green, so you can putt here.' Tiny U.S. television audience The streaming service DAZN bought world rights and sublicensed 24 of the 63 matches to TNT Sports, which averaged 418,000 viewers for the first 23 matches with English-language commentary on TNT, TBS and truTV. Seventeen matches sublicensed to TelevisaUnivision with Spanish commentary averaged 551,000. By comparison, NBC's networks averaged 510,000 viewers per match window for the Premier League in 2024-25, regular-season Major League Baseball is averaging 1,841,000 this year on Fox and 1.74 million on the cable network ESPN. The NFL averaged 17.5 million during the 2024 regular season. DAZN has not yet released figures but says it will during the week. Hot seat Temperature was over 90 degrees (32 Celsius) for many matches, with humidity that made it feel more than 100 (38). 'Honestly, the heat is incredible,' Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez said. 'Playing in this temperature is very dangerous.' Six games were delayed by weather for a total of 8 hours, 29 minutes, raising questions over the suitability of the U.S. for next year's World Cup during a time of global warming. Only four of the 11 U.S. World Cup venues have roofs, and including one that isn't temperature controlled. 'Players have played in these conditions before, but I think it doesn't make it easy and it doesn't make it as enjoyable, for sure,' said former Wales captain Gareth Bale, who attended the semifinals and final. 'It's one of those things and there's no real way around it.' At the 1994 World Cup in the U.S., just seven of 52 games had night local time starts in order to broadcast matches during evenings for Europe television. Missing champions While FIFA hyped the tournament as a competition of the best teams in the world, it didn't include the current champions of England (Liverpool), Spain (Barcelona), Italy (Napoli), Portugal (Sporting Lisbon) and Austria (Sturm Graz) among the dozen European clubs in the 32-nation field. Lionel Messi's Inter Miami got an invite even though it has never won the MLS title. Player welfare For the top players, the Club World Cup meant they likely faced three consecutive years of summer tournaments, following the European Championship and Copa America last year and leading to the World Cup for national teams in 2026. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said impact of the new tournament might not be known until midway through next season. 'I may say: 'So listen, we are a disaster. We are exhausted. The World Cup destroyed us,'' he admitted. Bayern Munich and Germany star Jamal Musiala likely faces months out of action after sustaining a fractured fibula and broken and dislocated ankle in his team's quarterfinal defeat to PSG. A global game FIFA wanted the Club World Cup to help grow the sport globally and shine a light on teams outside of Europe's most popular leagues. Brazilian teams excelled, with all four entrants advancing to the knockout stage. Botafogo produced one of the upsets of the tournament by beating PSG in the group phase, while Fluminense reached the semifinals. Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal advanced to the quarterfinals and eliminated Manchester City. Lionel Messi led Inter Miami to the round of 16, including Major League Soccer's first competitive win against European opposition, defeating Porto in the group phase. Other U.S. teams Seattle Sounders and LA FC were less impressive — with both teams exiting at the group stage, winless. New Zealand's Auckland City lost 10-0 to Bayern, while a game between South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns and South Korea's Ulsan drew just 3,412 fans. A question of quality Messi produced moments of magic, but a bout of acute gastroenteritis limited Kylian Mbappe's involvement. While many matches in the group stage, in particular, were competitive, only a few games will be remembered for iconic moments. Find more details on competition statistics (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
a day ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Chelsea's Palmer surprised to share Club World Cup podium spotlight with Donald Trump
'I knew he was going to be here, but I didn't know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy, so I was a bit confused,' Palmer said. Palmer received the Golden Ball as top player of the tournament after scoring the first two goals in Chelsea's 3-0 smothering of Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday night. Trump appeared to leave the award stand with a medal of his own, handed to him by FIFA President Gianni Infantino right after the medallion presented to James. At 23, Palmer was selected player of the match for Chelsea's second straight final. A rising English star, he assisted twice in a 4-1 win over Real Betis on May 28 that won the Europa Conference League. He also scored the Blues' first goal in the 2-1 quarterfinal Club World Cup win over Palmeiras and had England's goal in its 2024 European Championship final defeat to Spain. He had his name up in the bright lights this weekend. He posed for a photo in front of a huge video board of his image in a Nike ad emblazoned with the words: 'Scary Good.' It was part of a campaign that also features Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland and Vinícius Júnior. 'I've seen the billboards in Times Square and outside of Madison Square Garden,' Palmer said. 'It's a nice feeling to be obviously alongside them type of players.' Palmer had almost identical left-footed goals from just inside the penalty area in the 22nd and 30th minutes, then sent a through pass that enabled João Pedro to chip goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 43rd for his third goal in two starts with the Blues. Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca, who wanted to exploit space on PSG's left flank, told his players he wanted them to attack from the opening whistle. 'I think we won the game in the first 10 minutes and the message before the game was let them understand that we are here to win the game,' Maresca said. 'Probably set a little bit the tone of the game.' Chelsea went ahead after Sánchez kicked the ball downfield and Nuno Mendes mis-hit his header 15 yards past the midfield stripe toward his own goal. Malo Gusto's shot was blocked by Lucas Beraldo and rebounded to Palmer, who ended PSG's streak of 436 minutes without conceding. 'These are the games where we expect Cole to appear because they are big games, big moments,' Maresca said. Palmer doubled the lead in the 30th when he ran onto a long ball from Levi Colwill and cut inside before shooting for his 18th goal of the season. 'It's a great feeling. Even better because obviously everyone doubted us before the game,' Palmer said. 'The gaffer put a great gameplan out, and obviously, he knew where the space was going to be.' Find more details on competition statistics (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Short link:
Al-Ahram Weekly
a day ago
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Chelsea boss Maresca hails 'great triumph' in winning Club World Cup - News
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca insisted winning the Club World Cup meant as much as winning the Champions League after his side beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the final of the first edition of FIFA's new competition on Sunday. "I have the feeling that this competition is going to be as important, if not more important than, the Champions League," said Maresca after adding the trophy to the UEFA Conference League title his team won in May. Maresca only took over at Chelsea a year ago but was previously on the coaching staff under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City when they won the Champions League in 2023. "I was lucky to be on the coaching staff of a team that won the Champions League a few years ago, but this competition features the best teams in the world and I think we can value it on the same level," said the Italian. "It is a great triumph for us and it will allow the Chelsea fans to have that on our shirt for the next four years, so it is a source of pride." Maresca said he instructed his players to go out and take the game to PSG from the off -- they went on to net all three goals in the first half with Cole Palmer netting a brace before Joao Pedro added his name to the scoresheet. "The message was to let them understand that we were here to win the game and I think in the first 10 minutes we showed them that," Maresca said. "That set the tone of the game, and then the quality of the players was also important." England international Palmer was named player of the match after bagging a brace and setting up Joao Pedro's goal. The 23-year-old therefore lived up to his superstar billing -- his face has appeared on billboards around New York advertising the tournament, alongside the likes of Real Madrid duo Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior. "To score the goals was a great feeling, as was the way the team showed fire out there -- the gaffer's game plan was spot on," he said. "I just try to do my job every time I go onto the pitch and hopefully I will continue. "I have seen the billboards in Times Square and outside Madison Square Garden and it is obviously a nice feeling to be alongside those players," he added. Find more details on competition statistics (For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports.) Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
