UNITED WINNERS IN GOAL EXPLOSION

 

The Club World Championship. From a Manchester United point of view this phrase summons up memories of a farce. The treble winners of '99 were invited to this tournament in Janurary 2000. Though competiting in it meant that we had to pull out of that season's FA Cup, it sounded like a good idea at the time. Looking back, we should have let Bayern Munich fly to Brazil instead, particularly though two Brazilian teams took part, neither of them were the South American champions. We found ourselves in Group B alongside Mexican team Necaxa, Vasco de Gama and South Melbourne. A mix of stupid refereeing and heat that no footballer should have to play in resulted in a disasterous tournament for the Reds. The Club World Cup was suspended completely for five years after that.

Back in 1980 an Osaka team called Yanmar club folded and most of it's players and staff joined a new entity called Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. soccer club, effectively run by Panasonic. Fast forward to 1992 and the J League as we currently know it started up and the team was renamed Gamba Osaka. It's only been recently that Gamba have picked up any succsess, winning their first J-League title in '05 but they did managed to win the Asian Champions League earlier this year. Currently their domestic form is more hit and miss though, there's the suggestion that they won't even compete in continental competition next year, which would be an unusual downturn.

Now, well for starters the Club World Championship has been renamed the Club World Cup and merged with the old Intercontinental Cup and played in Japan. The group stages have been ditched, now it's preliminaries, quarter finals then semis. United as European champions were given a bye into the semi finals. It means taking a timeout from the domestic game and the British media still don't take the competition seriously but at least all the continental champions are here so let's rumble at the International Stadium. We went 4-5-1 Neville at right back(and captain), Evra left back. Anderson, Scholes and Giggsy centre mid, Nani left mid, Tevez up front.

Well credit where credit's due, Gamba certainly came into the match up for a rumble and did a lot of the early attacking. Even when we had opportunities, the J-League team were able to catch our defence completely on the hop with a counter attack. However their defence proved to be not so good, and a 27th minute Giggs corner found the head of Vidic and the Reds announced their arrival. After that it was United that kept attacking and Gamba looked to be settling for survival till half time. However we weren't interested in giving them even that much mercy. Another Giggsy corner swung over in injury time, this time it was Ronaldo who headed home and Gamba looked to have their work cut out.

Gamba continued to give us a match early on in the second half but overall we seemed to have the edge. As the game went on it looked to be starting to fade but it was United that were more interested in bringing on fresh legs, seemingly taking our foot off the gas. That proved not to be a good idea as Gamba fastbreaked in the 74th minute and Masato Yamakazi pulled one back. Fine by us, Wayne Rooney had just come on and he started by picking up the pass of another sub, Fletcher in the 75th minute and strking home. Fletcher then hit the net himself by heading in a 78th minute Evra cross then Wayne got his second when Giggsy set him up in the 79th minute. Gamba weren't done yet, first Yashuto Endo slotted in an 85th minute penalty then in injury time Lucas found Hideo Hashimoto to send the local fans home with smiles on their faces. Too little, too late though.

Elsewhere, LDS Quito faced Pachuca at the National Stadium. The Mexican team were expected to be the slight favourites if anything but Quito had other ideas, stinging them with goals from Claudio Biela and Luis Bolanos. Pachuca may have had the better game in terms of posession but in the end that counted for nothing as they weren't able to take their shooting opportunities. The games faded out in the second half and if anything Quito could have made it three late on. Bottom line is, more people may get invited to the party nowadays but no one quite seems to be able to touch Europe and South America in terms of quality club football.

So, United face LDS Quito in the final at the International Stadium. Credit to Quito they are the first Ecuadorian team to have won the Copa Libatadores though given their relative lack of pedigree, there were plenty of people, including me, who didn't think they'd even reach the final. Here they are though and Fergie certainly seems to be nervous about them, they certainly know where the net is and traditionally, intercontinental competition is a very big deal in South America. Still, there is that lack of pedigree to think about and with jetlag seemingly not an issue for United, I can't see how Quito are going to get one over on us and stop us from becoming the first English side to win the CWC as we currently know it.

Closer to home, the UEFA Cup group stages were winding up. In Group E, Portsmouth beat Heerenveen 3-0 at Fratton Park(though that still leaves them 4th in the group and so out of the competition). In Group D, Spurs drew 2-2 with Spartak Moscow at White Hart Lane(leaving them finishing 2nd in the group and going through to the knockout stages). In Group F, Villa were beaten 3-1 by Hamburg at the Nordbank Arena(though Villa still finish 3rd in the group and so are through to the knockout stages). In Group A, Man City were beaten 3-1 by Racing Satander at the El Sardinero(though City still top the group and are through to the knockout stages).

The draw for the Champions League first knockout round has been made and United have been drawn against Inter with the first leg at the San Siro. While this wasn't quite the worst case scenario for the Reds it must be pretty close. For starters, the current Inter gaffer is a certain cocky git from Portugal! Yep, Jose Mourinho is going to lock horns with Fergie once again. Secondly, Inter are currently leading Serie A. However Serie A isn't quite what it used to be but that does seem to be grasping at straws. We are in for a match against the sort of team that I'd honestly been hoping to avoid. Then again, I felt the same way when the treble winners of '99 wound up against Inter. Doable, but really too close to call.

Elsewhere, there's not much respite for other Premiership sides. Chelsea face Juventus with the first leg at Stamford Bridge(after a very iffy group campaign, the Blues will surely get done in). Arsenal face Roma with the first leg at the Emirates Stadium(the Gunners look like they're the safest bet for a Premiership presence in the quarter finals). Finally, Liverpool face Real Madrid with the first leg at the Bernabeu(Scousers got the worst case scenario, on current form they might pull it off but not easilly). So, not the easiest draw for Premiership side, there certainly will not be four Premiership quarter finalists this time around, that's for certain.

The draw for the first knockout round of the UEFA Cup has also been made. Spurs face Shatkar Donetsk with the 1st leg at the RSK Olimpskiy. Doable for Spurs on current form. Villa face CSKA Moscow with the 1st leg at Villa Park. Villa had their moments in the group stages but CSKA have won this competition before so this could be a reality check. Man City face FC Copenhagen with the 1st leg at the Parkenstadion. All bets are off here but I wouldn't bet too much on City. Overall, not an ideal draw from a Premiership point of view but workable, at least one of our sides should make the second round at least. After that, we'll see what happens.

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