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GIANNI’S DREAM
Have you ever had that dream where you’re playing for your favourite team, thrown on in a desperate bid to find a goal? And the game is against a side you’ve never heard of, part of some arcane tournament that’s suddenly of vital importance? Oh, and it’s being played in your parents’ back garden? Just us? Well, that’s the closest parallel we could think up for Copa Gianni, where the group stages have served up the weird, wonderful and woeful in equal measure. If you haven’t been paying attention, here are some “highlights” so far.
Goals, goals, goals: Let’s be honest, if you’re a neutral tuning in on a weekday afternoon, or in the dead of night, you want to see goals – and Copa Gianni has certainly delivered. There have been 148 in 48 games, a reliable ratio of more than three per game. We’ve seen seven-goal shootouts (Mamelodi 3-4 Dortmund, Juventus 2-5 Manchester City), an eight-goal epic (Porto 4-4 Al Ahly) and, er, a 10-goal classic (Bayern Munich 10-0 Auckland City). There’s been quality to match the quantity too, with highlights from Kenan Yildiz, Miguel Merentiel, Mamelodi’s Lucas Ribeiro channeling 80s Brazil and of course, Lionel Messi. Attacking flair, dodgy playing surfaces and a relaxed attitude to defending have given the tournament a fun, knockabout pre-season feel that will please casual fans, and wound Gianni Infantino to his core. Everyone’s a winner!
Brilliant Brazil: The notion that Copa Gianni and its many predecessors don’t really matter that much is a profoundly European point of view. South American sides have generally quite fancied the idea of being the world’s best team, even if in recent times it’s been the Euro giants picking up the trophy each year with a collective shrug. Might that change in the new, expanded format? Brazil’s quartet of sides have been magnificent: all four are into the last 16, with one defeat in 12 games and just nine goals conceded collectively, rebuffing a few stereotypes about shapeless “samba football” on the way.
Crowd confusion: South American teams have brought along thousands of noisy, passionate fans that have genuinely saved things from becoming a total embarrassment. There have been some big attendances – 60,927 people can tell their grandkids they saw Al Ahly 0-0 Inter Miami – but also some near-empty grounds. There were just 3,412 fans at Camping World Stadium in Orlando to see Mamelodi Sundowns defeat Ulsan HD, a sentence which sums up why CG ‘25 is simply not an elite-level tournament, no matter how much Infantino waves his gold key around.
Extreme weather: The biggest crowd so far – 80,619 – was at the Rose Bowl to see PSG thump Atlético Madrid 4-0. The problem was that temperatures soared to 31C for a 12pm kick-off, with supporters claiming they were told to dispose of full water bottles before entering the venue. “There was no way to simply buy water,” sweated one, while another declared that attending was “the worst mistake”. The heat almost drove Diego Simeone to go full Jackie Charlton on the touchline, and it wasn’t just in Pasadena. Dortmund subs retreated to the dressing room to watch the end of their game, while the threat of storms caused five games to be delayed.
The underdogs: Auckland City earned their place in the draw by winning Oceania’s Big Cup, but they are not even the best team in their home city. Auckland FC recently topped Australia’s flamin’ A-League table, but are ineligible for either AFC or OFC competitions. Instead, New Zealand’s finest amateur side jetted off to the USA USA USA – those who could get the time off work, anyway – and lost 10-0 to Bayern and 6-0 to Benfica. They restored pride with a very creditable 1-1 draw against Boca Juniors, but reports suggest the team want head coach and dentist Paul Posa to be replaced – in part because he had never heard of Benfica’s World Cup-winning defender, Nicolás Otamendi. Other underdogs made a better impression: South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns were a goal from going through, Mexico’s Monterrey – led by Sergio Ramos – sent River Plate home, and plucky Saudi outfit Al-Hilal showed up Real Madrid. At Copa Gianni, dreams really do come true.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
It helped playing with my brothers all the time … I went to Arsenal and trained at the boys’ academy. It took a few sessions because at first they were like: ‘There’s a girl with us.’ But when they got to realise what I could do, they accepted me” – England’s Lauren James gets her chat on with Donald McRae in this in-depth interview.
Mike Todd’s pedantry about Newky Brown (yesterday’s Football Daily letters) has piqued my curiosity. Can anyone at Football Daily Towers confirm if Purple Tin also comes in a bottle? – Weird Unc Frankie Dodds.
It was a bit sad to be reminded of how Lee Carsley had been overlooked for the England manager gig (yesterday’s Football Daily). There is another successful, highly experienced and obviously well-qualified candidate that most commentators never seem to mention as worthy of consideration. Someone who clearly is a born leader, is totally media savvy, and has a successful international track record including the first trophy for a senior England team since 1966. Sarina Wiegman. I wonder why? – Steve Malone.
It would be interesting if, instead of meaningless friendlies, youth sides could play their senior counterparts for the right to represent England at a given tournament. If Carsley’s unit beat Thomas Tuchel’s, then the winning manager gets to take his squad to a tournament – Mark Pearson.
Re: yesterday’s Quotes of the Day. Clearly Emiliano Viviano has never visited Britain” – Gareth Rogers.
Please send your letters to [email protected]. Today’s winner of our letter o’ the day competition is … Mark Pearson, who gets some Football Weekly merch. We’ll be in touch. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.
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