The idea of distinguishing the best in the world was born in 1960, with the appearance of the Copa Libertadores coinciding with the fifth in Europe. The idea was obvious: face the two champions. The term world title was avoided out of respect for the other confederations, although no club that was not European or South American had a level, so it was called the Intercontinental Cup. At first it turned out very well, because although some Italian and Spanish teams were already signing South Americans, today’s rout had not yet occurred. There were excellent duels Madrid-Peñarol and Benfica-Santos, but the extreme violence of the Argentine champions was soon frightening, and they began to become more frequent. The Estudiantes-Milan of 1969 was a horror film. The Europeans were disgusted, they were once the runners-up, some editions were not held. Japan came to the rescue, with Tokyo as a neutral setting and sponsorship from Toyota, but it was never the same. The sponsorship and lack of fervor in the stands dazzled him.
With Blatter, FIFA already devised an attempt at a World Cup in 2000, in Brazil, with eight teams in two groups. Madrid attended, but did not reach the final. That stung and contributed to taking over ISL, FIFA’s marketing company, which looked back at the old Intercontinental to turn it into something that is still played and that we have never gone beyond calling world cup. FIFA itself took it so little seriously that it used one of its editions to introduce VAR on an experimental basis.
Now comes this high-flying attempt, which responds to Infantino’s interest in bothering Ceferin. FIFA has a quadrennial World Cup, compared to UEFA, which, in addition to the Euro Cup, has the Champions League every year, with succulent income. Infantino conspired with the rebels who created the Super League, a torpedo for UEFA, although after the fiasco he looked the other way. But in exchange, he has launched, with a blow to the calendar (June 14 to July 13), a Club World Cup that since last week already has a face and eyes, with the Miami draw, and financing, since DAZN will put billion and will televise it for free.
The state fund of Saudi Arabia has entered DAZN, which thus pays for the concession to its country of the 2034 World Cup, so followed by that of Qatar. The great stage will be the United States, land of sponsorships. In exchange, certain concessions are made: Inter Miami, in which Messi plays, and very well, has been invited by name, with just the pretext of having won something like the cookie trophy. And, exceptionally, on June 1 a transfer window will open so that whoever wishes can incorporate one of the few absent figures. Of the top ten for the Ballon d’Or, only the retired Kroos and Lamine Yamal are missing, but there are other very greedy names outside, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Benzema, whose respective clubs do not participate, and Neymar’s does.
The representation by confederations, much discussed, was 12 from UEFA, 6 from South America, 4 per beard for Central-North America, Africa and Asia, one for Oceania and the last one for the host, where Inter Miami sneaked in.
They seem like well-adjusted proportions, but it will be strange if the Europeans don’t sweep. Just as in the World Cup many teams can climb the beards of the Europeans, since they have their best natives, in this case it is not the same. The clubs of our continent act like ferocious vacuum cleaners that trap the youngsters who emerge from the age of 17 or less and return them when they are already in their thirties.
I don’t see a way for a team outside the Champions League to win this. It will serve to tarnish the title of the person who won it weeks before, or otherwise, revalidate it. It will enrich Infantino’s FIFA, which has now managed to get into Ceferin’s garden, and it will fill our screens with matches that we will see. Free, because Saudi Arabia pays.
