Manchester City won’t take Club World cup for granted- Pep Gaurdiola
The winners will face Fluminense in Friday's final after the South American champions beat Al Ahly 2-0 in the first semi-final on Monday
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City will not take the Fifa Club World Cup for granted as they prepare for Tuesday’s semi-final with Asian Champions Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
City are the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and Uefa Super Cup holders and have also won the EFL Cup and Community Shield under Guardiola.
“It’s the first time Man City is here [the Club World Cup],” said the Man City manager Guardiola. “We don’t take it for granted, it’s a privilege, an honour to be here.”
“It’s the fourth time I’m going to play in this competition. In the previous one, wow it was tough- so it’s a tricky semi-final but of course, we want to win it.”
The winners will face Fluminense in Friday’s final after the South American champions beat Al Ahly 2-0 in the first semi-final on Monday.
Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland have both travelled to Saudi Arabia after recent injuries – although there is no word on whether either will play.
Midfielder De Bruyne has not played since suffering a hamstring injury on the opening day of the season, but trained with the team on Monday.
Striker Haaland has missed the past three games with a foot injury.
The Club World Cup will be expanded to a 32-team tournament from 2025, which will be held every four years in the summer – instead of the current smaller annual mid-season event.
Pep Guardiola said: “I am not against the new competition. I am against the lack of time to recover from year to year.
“This is what I am complaining [about] all the time. For me, it doesn’t matter to play every three days, six days, seven days. It is OK.
“But it is really tough to finish the season and then in three weeks restart again and go to Asia, to be financially stable, or the States. That is tough, for ourselves and especially for the players. For myself, things should change.
“But how do you change when [after] you finish the season, you go to the United States to play another competition? This is the problem.”
Story By: Princeton Wiredu
