Miami (AFP) – Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s Chief of Global Football Development, says the Club World Cup has shown that the ability of teams in the final third remains the biggest gap between European clubs and those from the rest of the world. Wenger, speaking alongside members of FIFA’s Technical Study Group, who have been analysing games at the 32-club tournament, said however the distance between UEFA’s top clubs and those from South America and elsewhere has been proven to be narrower than many imagined.
“Overall, what was a surprise to me, we as Europeans we come here and think, maybe we are a bit too strong for the rest of the world and it was a little bit an experience of humility,” he told reporters. Wenger said South American teams had shown how competitive they can be and that South African club Mamelodi Sundowns, whose only defeat was a 4-3 loss to Borussia Dortmund, had also shown an impressive level of play.
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“They put us in our real place here, especially the Brazilian teams and I must say also teams like Mamelodi Sundowns, when you look at the game against Dortmund, the numbers, you look at the team…even Al Ahly, they are out of the tournament like the Sundowns but the competition is much tighter than expected,” said the Frenchman. But Wenger said that the data and analysis conducted by his group showed that a quality gap remained when it comes to the attacking third.
“Definitely it is the final third,” said Wenger. “The timing of the pass, the quality of the pass, the quality of the run, the quality of the execution (of finishing), it all lies there.” Former Germany and USA coach Juergen Klinsmann, another member of the study group, said that the experience of high-level competition could help increase that quality level.
“Part of that quality comes from experience. When is Pachuca or Monterrey playing in a tournament like this? That is why when I was coach of the USA I said ‘get me into Copa America, get me friendlies in Europe and not here in this region’,” said the former World Cup winning striker. “It has a lot do with the level of competition they usually get in their club environment, because in the box it is in your head, in your mind, because they can play, obviously they are good players,” he said.
The last 16, which got underway on Saturday, features four Brazilian clubs, Saudi club Al Hilal, Mexico’s Monterrey, and Inter Miami from the United States, along with nine European clubs. European clubs Porto, Atletico Madrid, and Salzburg failed to make it out of the group stage. Wenger said the tournament should motivate clubs around the world to up their standards even more.
“Our hope is that the teams who did compete go home and say ‘next time, we know what we had to do to be stronger’,” he said. The 75-year-old Wenger said he felt the tournament had a real future. “Overall, I would say it went better than I expected it and I am quite optimistic,” he said. “It looks like it is the start of something that will never stop again.”
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