The palm trees Brazilian, champion of the last two editions of the Copa Libertadores, will face Egyptian Al-Ahly on Tuesday in the Club World Cup semi-finals, in a match in which he seeks his first victory in the tournament against the same rival who defeated him in 2021 in the dispute for the bronze.
The green set of Sao Paulo play a Club World Cup for the third time after falling 23 years ago in the final against English Manchester United and after his failed campaign last yearwhen it was defeated 1–0 by Mexican Tigres in the semi-final and by Al-Ahly on penalties (3-2) in the definition of third place.
The São Paulo team, for the same reason, arrives in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) without any victory nor any goal in Club World Cups.
The two losses last year in Doha (Qatar), which left him in fourth place, made Palmeiras the South American club with the worst campaign in a FIFA Club World Cupsince the other Libertadores champions eliminated in the semifinals at least returned home with the bronze.
For the same reason, both the coach of the Brazilian club, the Portuguese Abel Ferreira, like his players, say they are realistic and refuse to talk about a possible final against Chelsea English or the possible conquest of an unpublished title, since the Priority at the moment is to score his first goal in a World Cup and eliminate his executioner from last year to, then yes, try the title.
Ferreira adopted several changes, he set up a team with experienced players and few youthand maintained the tactical system that was successful in the last edition of the Libertadores, including in the final victory over Flamengo.
Four starters have already been fired from the team beaten by the Egyptian club last year: Matías Viña, Felipe Melo, Willian and Luiz Adriano.
Ferreira even summoned some players from the youth team as reinforcements in Abu Dhabi but when defining the final list, he chose to stay with the professionalsincluding the three who are isolated for having tested positive for COVID-19.
The Portuguese coach will field a team with three defenders against Al-Ahly, with midfielder Gustavo Scarpa closer to the defense and the trio of forwards (Raphael Veiga, Dudú and Rony) freer to concentrate on attack.
The main novelty will be the line-up of Marcos Rocha in the place of the Uruguayan Joaquín Piquerez, regular starter and who joined the concentration late after having completed a COVID-19 quarantine in Brazil.
The Egyptian club will play its first semi-final of a Club World Cup after having eliminated Rayados de Monterrey on Saturday with a victory, 1-0, thanks to a goal from Mohame Hany in the second half.
The surprise victory of the African champion It was double due to the fact that the club could not count on six of its starters, who were concentrated with the Egyptian team that played in the African Cup.
Despite the fact that the players who were with the national team have already joined their teammates in Abu Dhabi, the Al-Ahly coach, Pitsu Mosimane, must line up against Palmeiras the base of the team that eliminated the Concacaf champion.
The duel will be played at the Al-Nahyan stadium, this Tuesday from 11:30 in Ecuador. (D)
possible alignments
Palm trees:
Weverton; Gustavo Gomez, Luan, Murilo; Marcos Rocha, Danilo, Ze Rafael, Gustavo Scarpa; Raphael Veiga, Dudu, Rony. DT: Abel Ferreira.
Al Ahly:
Aly Lofti; Rami Rabia, Yasser Ibrahim, Mohamed Elmaghrabi; Ali Maaloul, Magdy, Aliou Dieng, Mohamed Hany; Taher Mohamed, Hussein El-Shahat, Ahmed Abdelkader. DT: Pitsu Mosimane.
Referee: The French Clement Turpin, helped by his compatriots Nicolas Danos and Cyril Gringore.
Stadium: Al Nahyan Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Source: Eluniverso
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