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FIFA Club World Cup 2009: FC Barcelona 2 – 1 Estudiantes (ARG)

December 17, 2010 — by Suman

Forca Barça!

As part of the run up to tomorrow’s FIFA Club World Cup 2010 championship game (between 2009-10 UEFA Champions League winner Inter Milan and 2010 AFC Champions League winner TP Mazembe), we take a look back at the finale of last year’s tournament, between FC Barcelona (who qualified by winning the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League) and Estudiantes de la Plata (also known, apparently, as Los Pincharratas–The Rat Stabbers, and who had won the 2009 Copa Libertadores).

(Fox Deportes is actually going to rebroadcast the Barcelona-Estudiantes game this afternoon at 5pmET–ahead of their broadcast of Inter-TP Mazembe tomorrow at 12pmET.  But if you don’t get to watch the rebroadcast, see below for a 6min highlight clip.)

It was a rather exciting game, as Estudiantes took the lead in the 37th minute off a fantastic header by Mauro Boselli. But Pedro pulled Barcelona even in the 89th minute–Pique had moved up into attack, and won a head ball that Pedro nicely finished, also with his head.  And then Messi, as he tends to do, scored with spectacular fashion and timing–somehow getting behind Estudiantes’ defenders and headed in the winning goal with 10 minutes remaining in extra time.

Barcelona became the first Spanish club to win the FIFA Club World Cup, and it also completed Barcelona’s remarkable and unprecedented 2009 sextuple2008–09 La Liga2008–09 Copa del Rey2009 Supercopa de España2008–09 UEFA Champions League2009 UEFA Super Cup, and the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup.

Here’s the video:

Commentary

The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup

December 16, 2010 — by Suman2

FIFA Club World Cup 2010Seven teams have been competing in Abu Dhabi over the past week in the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup: Inter Milan (Italy), Pachuca (Mexico), Internacionale (Brazil), TP Mazembe (Congo DR), Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (South Korea), Al-Wahda Sports Club (UAE), and Hekari United FC (Papua Ne Guinea). The final is set for Saturday: Inter Milan vs, surprisingly, TP Mazembe.

Hekkari are the first club outside of Australia or New Zealand to qualify; but they immediately fell to host side Al-Wahda in the qualifying round.  Al-Wahda went down to Asian champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the quarterfinals, and they in turn lost to Inter Milan in the semis.

The UEFA and CONMEBOL champions go straight into the semifinals–which no doubt has contributed to every previous final match being a UEFA vs CONMEBOL affair (see below).  But this year TP Mazembe made it to the finals by beating Pachuca and then Internacional.  See our lengthy post here on TP Mazembe and more on how they reached the final; see FIFA’s site for the full bracket of results leading up to the final.

Via Wikipedia, here are the details of how the seven clubs qualified–the six winners of the various Confederations’champions leagues plus Al-Wahda as winner of the host UAE’s league:

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FIFA Club World Cup Finalist: TP Mazembe Out of Lubumbashi (DR Congo)

December 16, 2010 — by Suman2

Tout Puissant Mazembe - Founded in 1939

How did Tout Puissant Mazembe–based in Lubumbashi, the 2nd largest city in the Democratic Republic of Congo–become the first club from outside of Europe and South America to reach the finals of a Club World Cup?

Most immediately, by upsetting the Brazilian side Internacionale 2-0 earlier this week in the semis.  (And thus preventing an Inter v Inter final. Inter Milan defeated South Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 3-0 in the other semifinal; Internazionale will play Mazembe in the finals this Saturday).

The highlights show a couple nice finishes by the Congolese (and some relatively lax defending by the Brazilians):

For a more detailed account of how TP Mazembe reached the final, see this Guardian blog entry: “TP Mazembe continue journey from karate kids to the top of the world“; the “karate kids” reference alludes to a shameful showing in a club tournament in Kigali in May, against Rwandan army club APR FC:

Opponents of APR complain that the army club benefits from generous refereeing when playing at home and Mazembe felt they were being kicked with impunity. When the referee denied the visitors a penalty, the perceived injustice got a bit too much for some Mazembe players. Their captain and prolific striker, Trésor Mputu, protested so furiously that he was sent off and he did not, alas, go quietly.

Instead he and several team-mates chased the referee around the pitch; the midfielder Guy Lusadisu was the first to catch up with the official … and laid him out with a flying karate kick. Oh dear. The match and then the whole tournament were abandoned and Fifa banned Mputu and Lusadisu for a year. Mazembe’s hopes of retaining the African Champions League seemed doomed. The loss of Mputu, who last year was voted the best player playing his club football in Africa, was considered especially debilitating.

Here is the video of the flying karate kick in Kigali: