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Reactions: Club World Championship Users sound off on the Euro flops at Brazil 2000
Posted: Friday January 14, 2000 05:22 PM
We asked CNNSI.com users to give us their comments on the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship. Below is another installment of the responses so far.
A simple question which will clearly show who is who in world football... Which players rule the top leagues in Europe? Latin American players, of course. I rest my case.
Who cares about Man U? Even if you think they could have done better, they didn't. Let's focus one those who did!
It's obvious that Man U had serious problems with the suffocating hot and humid weather of Rio's summer, it's possible that Man U had beaten Vasco 3-1 (or by any other score) if that match had been played at Old Trafford instead of Maracana exactly at the same day. It's as hard for a Brazilian team to play under a freezing European winter as it is to an English team to face Rio's summer. The place where a competition is played will always be a point to consider. But, just to inform the Europeans, Sao Paulo is not so hot as Rio, if Man U could use this excuse, ok, but it can't be used to Real Madrid. Another thing, Van Gaal and Phil Jones, you are right about the risk of the excess of competitions, they can kill football, but I must remind that before this World Cup of Clubs, there used to have those discussions around the world about the best team of the world, at this point of view, the creation of this competition was a need. Probably the next World Cup of Clubs will be in Europe and the critics coming from there won't be so strong, the long distance won't be a problem for European teams and they will have more chances to win.
If you look back in the last 2 world cups you find Brazil champion in 1994 and Second Place 1998 , You don't see England getting anywhere near the finals, if you look in all the top Europeans teams you will find the RIVALDO (best player in the world) RONALDO (2 times best player in the world) ROBERTO CARLOS, SAVIO, AMOROSO, JUNINHO, DENILSON, and many more Brazilian players, and that's why everyone thinks European soccer is better, because we make it better with our Brazilians players, they have more money than the Brazilians teams but we have the best players in the world. After this world Club Champ., I really hope that people realize that we (South American) are still the world's best in soccer. Man.U. not only failed the finals but also failed 3rd and 4th place, may be a good idea for them in the future (if they ever qualify again) to stay in Europe and play the FA CUP.
First of all, Id like to say that American (all futbol from both North and South America) is the best in the world overall. Second, Id like to say that I am a Man UTD fan so this is coming from someone that most people think would be biased towards them. I do not believe that Beckham's or Ferguson's red cards were unfair, I saw what Beckham did, and had I been reffing the game I would have done the same. Beckham is not a liability to England or to Man UTD, simply because he gets red cards at the some of the worst times doesn't mean that he's the only one its ever happened to. It happens to everybody, of all ages, all skill levels, and from all countries.
Another political maneuver by Havelange and FIFA. Man Utd was forced to forego the FA Cup to come to the Brazilian show, in the middle of their championship, and REal Madrid did as well now 3 games to catch up in their league play. This while the Brazilian teams had finish their league and were in recess. No wonders France refused to come to the Confederations Cup...it is just not fair competitions. Next World Club Championship must be held in some offseason time for all clubs involved.
It was about time for FIFA to start a world club championship, an international tournament involving the best clubs in the world which could be comparable with the world cup. The winner of this championship is truly a world champion because every continent is represented. I disagree with the one who said that the clubs would not play against the best teams as it is 'just' the champions of each continent that play in the championship. First of all, to be South America or European or African champion, the club must play against the best of those continents, so in fact they actually play hard to be the best in the continent. And second it would be impossible to make a club tournament involving more clubs and more games as the clubs themselves do not have time for another long important tournament. As for criticisms about the weather and referee, this is all part of the game. Of course Brazilian clubs would have advantage for playing at home, but the soccer players are professionals and must face the conditions of the game. Especially clubs from Europe which boast themselves as the richest in the world, should be prepared to play in any condition. Rivalry between Europe and Latin American soccer will always exist as a result of their good skills. But what happens is that European clubs often think that they are the best because of their expensive players, but when it comes down to playing soccer, they play just as well as any team. I might even add that the clubs misuse their money and overate the soccer players and underestimate the other clubs from the world. Man U lost because of the horrendous soccer the showed, without imagination, sending the ball to the opponent's area, hoping that their attackers can do something. Just so that people won't say that I am pro-South America, Real Madrid played excellent soccer against Corithians, varying its plays and using speed to surprise the opponent. Even though clubs from Africa and Asia aren't as strong as their European and Latin American counterparts, they have showed their improving soccer skills. Such that Real Madrid and Corithians had difficult times playing against Raja Casablanca. I just wanted to finish by saying that football (or soccer as said in US) is a passionable game because it is an even game, where lots of factors affect the game making it interesting and dramatic as "unexpected" things happen, like strong team lose to a weak team and etc.
Latin American teams and players prove themselves time and time again that they are without a doubt the best and most skillful players in the world. Why do you think there's so many Latin players playing abroad in Europe today. Germany, Italy, Spain and England constantly look over South America like hungry vultures to pick their next "football star". Brazilians are truly the "Michael Jordans" of their game. European players will never possess the skills, vision and creativity that the Latin players do and that's why Europe looks toward Latin America for that missing link that's so demanded from the fans. Europeans focus on strength, tackling and the typical boring "air dump and run long ball" tactics that requires no skills whatsoever! Latin American players dream of playing in Europe for only one reason and that's MONEY! The "European Federations" are definitely wealthier and can afford to dish out multi- million dollar contracts as oppose to the federations in Latin America. Nonetheless "South America" will always possess better teams and overall better players.
I believe that Manchester United's exit should not be perceived as a failure or a shock result. Manchester United played against Champions from other continents and this inaugural tournament started with four hot favourites possessing equal chances to reach the final stage. Two out of those four made it and thus no surprises. As far as the concluding remark that aims at comparing European teams to their South American Counterparts, in my opinion the balance tilts slightly in favour of South American teams. The Toyota Cup, previously known as the Intercontinental Cup, witnessed 27 South American Victories versus 25 European successes. For those who criticize Man United's decision of going to Brazil and therefore skipping the FA cup, please remember that it took 31 years (1968 to 1999) for the British Club to win the European trophy. The FA Cup will come again next year, but there are no guarantees for a repeated victory at the continental level. Manchester had to seize the opportunity. Finally, Brazil 2000 was a success and the new formula will gain more interest and will appear on the agenda of all clubs in the very near future.
There is no question about the quality of the Red Devils but it must be accepted that calling them the best team in the world is going a little too far. When they won the Euro club champions cup they certainly were the most on form team in the tournament. In football the most on-form team usually wins at a particular period. During this particular period they were definitely not the most on form team.
The S. American x European confrontation, while interesting in its own right, is not one to be ever settled but appreciated and enjoyed. In order to make comparisons fair, however, hopefully national competitions in both continents will all tend toward the same schedule all year round. This should even the field more instead of having teams right after their already lengthy, tiring seasons (muscular injuries are now rampant in Corinthians) compared to teams only half way through their seasons. While there's clearly room for improvement, the reactions already show that this CWC is a resounding success. This sort of tournament clearly fills an important niche and its present and future winners and contenders will be in our minds for a long time all across the globe. I for one did not expect the African teams could hold a candle to the others; yet the scores and games were much closer than I anticipated. One can argue that this team or another should be in, but I'm sure future rules should settle participating squads and their number better. But, folks, let's keep in mind the most important aspect of the sport: fair play, both in and out of the field. This applies to players as well - see the unfortunate words of an MU Dutch player in Phil Jones' "Mitigating Factors" report. (Among the 'jewels' mentioned, the games would start at 3pm local, etc...). So we fans can teach some players and cheer for our team, make jokes and even be opinionated but avoid disrespectful, meaningless comments on teams or nationalities. Let's all enjoy the sport for the fun of it.
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