Santos, Barcelona Face Off in Club World Cup Final
Although the Club World Cup, and previously the Intercontinental Cup, has not always been the most prestigious trophy in the European calendar, there is no doubt whatsoever that for South American teams it is the highlight of the year. Watching the joy of Santos players and fans as they celebrated safe passage to Sunday’s final, this fact was confirmed once more.
The Copa Libertadores champions offered a schizophrenic performance in Wednesday’s semi-final against Kashiwa Reysol, who gave little sign that they had played two bruising ties in the last five days with a relentless, harrying display. The highlight reel will show three wonderful goals from the Brazilians, and their potency in attack was there for all to see.
In Neymar, Borges, Ganso and Elano, not to mention Danilo charging from deep on the right flank, Santos boast an offensive line-up which is the match of almost any in the world. Three of those men hit the net during Wednesday’s 3-1 victory, with the most encouraging sign the fact that Neymar appears to be at his very best in Japan.
There is a lot of hype surrounding the 19-year-old phenomenon, but every day that passes in 2011 he seems more capable to handle and live up to it. His opener grabbed the headlines, but it was his movement, dropping deep and dragging the defence out wide, his ability to leave a marker flat on his back with just one move, which makes him such a terrifying prospect for defences.
If anything, Porto-bound Danilo was even more impressive. The right-back is a typical Brazilian lateral, happy to bomb forward without hesitation while also covering in defence, and the young star played this role to perfection. A handful of decisive last-ditch tackles singled him out, before a stinging free kick from 30 metres out notched Santos’ third of the game and all but killed off their opponents’ challenge, at a time when they threatened to make their way back into contention.
Inspired by Neymar and Danilo, the Brazilians played some brilliant passages of play across the 90 minutes; but there was also a lot to admonish. Once 2-0 up the drop off in intensity was understandable but unacceptable, and this lackadaisical approach cost them a goal and could have led to disaster at just 2-1 ahead. The biggest worry for coach Muricy Ramalho, however, was a defensive display which left a lot to desire.
Source: Goal.com
