When the draw for the FIFA Club World Cup took place last December and it became known that Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain would be playing games in Seattle, it was an impressive trio of European powers headed to the Pacific Northwest.
And then Inter Milan and PSG went out and made the UEFA Champions League final and the status of the clubs headed here was heightened even more.
The first of those two finalists makes its debut in the Emerald City on Saturday afternoon when Inter Milan faces the Urawa Red Diamonds in the second group stage match of the Club World Cup for both teams.
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for Inter. The excitement and hype of playing in its third European final in the past 50 years was replaced by the disappointment of being shellacked 5-0 by PSG in that match.
Then came a change and the helm of the club when Simone Inzaghi departed from Inter as head coach just a few days after that loss to PSG. Former Inter player and youth coach Cristian Chivu was named the new manager two weeks ago.
And now in the midst of recovering from a long and trophy-less season and a change in the voice leading the club, the Nerazzurri are trying to find the motivation via the Club World Cup to get something tangible out of the campaign.
“I’m expecting a difficult match, just as every game will be at this Club World Cup,” Chivu said on Friday via an interpreter. “We have noticed that the European sides are struggling a little bit because we’re at the end of the season. It’s been nine months of battling, nine months we’ve been playing every three days. We’re always trying to find the right energy, both from a mental and physical perspective, in order to approach a game like this.”
Inter opened its Club World Cup journey with a 1-1 draw against Monterrey from Liga MX last Tuesday at the Rose Bowl, while Urawa fell 3-1 to Argentine powerhouse River Plate at Lumen Field.
If Chivu, the new Inter head coach, wanted an opportunity to rest some of his regulars, the match against Urawa would seem the most optimal considering the Nerazzurri close the group stage against River Plate next Wednesday night at Lumen Field. That match could end up deciding who advances from the group to the knockout stage. Seven of the 11 players that started the Champions League final for Inter against PSG started the Club World Cup opener against Monterrey in Chivu’s first game in charge.
Time/place: Noon, PT Saturday at Lumen Field.
TV: DAZN.com
Series history: First matchup.
That sea of red that populated the south end of Lumen Field for Urawa’s opening match against River Plate is expected to be just as full on Saturday. The dedication and presence created by the 1,800 or so Urawa fans seated behind the goal in the opener was an impressive display and an example of what FIFA hopes the Club World Cup could eventually become in the future in terms of fan interest and dedication.
The Red Diamonds also played pretty well, too. Urawa outshot River Plate. After falling behind early, they nearly leveled the match in the 32nd minute but had a goal ruled out for offside. River Plate took a 2-0 lead early in the second half, but Urawa pulled within 2-1 on Yusuke Matsuo’s penalty in the 58th minute before eventually conceding again.
Inter Milan started the Club World Cup in Southern California and used UCLA as its initial training base. But with its final two group games being played at Lumen Field, the club moved its operations to the Virginia Mason Athletic Center in Renton with the Seahawks serving as the host.
“We’ve got some wonderful training facilities and the same went for UCLA,” Chivu said. “We’d like to thank the organizers and those who made those facilities available to us.”
It’s an odd stat considering it played in the Champions League final just a few weeks ago, but Inter Milan is just 4-3-4 in its last 11 matches across all competitions going back to late April. Three of the four losses came in the span of a week in late April losing a pair of Serie A matches around a midweek loss to rival AC Milan in the Coppa Italia. The other loss was obviously higher profile getting routed 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final in Munich.
