2023-12-11 20:22:37
Marcelo Gallardo and Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia open a new edition of the FIFA Club World Cup this Tuesday by facing Auckland City of New Zealand, for the first round of the tournament. The match will be held in Saudi Arabia.
The match will be played from 3 p.m. at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium in the city of Jeddah and will be broadcast on the FIFA+ platform.
The “Muñeco” Gallardo team is competing in the 20th and last edition of this format of the Club World Cup as a guest for being the current champion of the organizing country. Starting in 2025 and as confirmed by FIFA, there will be a new Club World Cup with the participation of 32 teams.
Auckland City, with the presence of the historic Argentine striker Emiliano Tade, will once again be the representative of Oceania for being the two-time champion (2022 and 2023) and top winner of the OFC Champions League.
The winner of this match will face the African representative, Al Ahly FC of Egypt, in the second round, while Fluminense, champion of the 2023 Copa Libertadores for the first time in its history, awaits in the semifinals.
On the other side of the bracket will be León from Mexico, winner of the Concacaf Champions League, and Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan, champion of the Asian Champions League. The Mexican team is led by the Argentine Nicolás Larcamón and has the footballers Adonis Frías (former Defense and Justice defender) and the midfielder Lucas Romero, with a past in Vélez and Independiente.
This match will be played on Friday from 11:30 and the winner will have to face Tuesday the 19th to the European champion and top candidate for the title, Manchester City, of Josep “Pep” Guardiola and the World champion, Julián Álvarez.
Gallardo at Al Ittihad
Three weeks after his arrival in Saudi Arabia and with just five games in charge (three wins, one draw and one loss), Gallardo will face the Club World Cup for the third time in his career.
During his successful time at River Plate, the 47-year-old coach participated in the 2015 edition in which he eliminated Sanfrecce Hiroshima, from Japan, in the semifinals and then lost the final to Barcelona 3-0. And he returned in 2018 after the historic final in Madrid against Boca Juniors but in the semifinals he was surprised by Al Ain, from the United Arab Emirates, who left him out on penalties and in the match for third place he beat another Japanese rival 4-0. Kashima Antlers.
Al Ittihad starts as the top favorite in the series since in addition to the home field it has a team led by the French Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante and the Brazilian Fabinho.
According to Auckland City’s own official report, the money that the Arab club invested in the three aforementioned footballers would be enough to support all New Zealand football teams.
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