By Mark Baber
December 15 – The quarter finals of the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday saw Kiwi semi-professionals Auckland City go through at the expense of African Champions ES Setif whilst Mexican side Cruz Azul controversially defeated Australia’s Western Sydney Wanderers on a waterlogged pitch, thanks largely to some remarkable refereeing.
Auckland City have won $2.4 million for their successes and will play South American champions San Lorenzo of Argentina in the semi-final of the Club World Cup – after having surprisingly defeated Moroccan champions Moghreb Tétouan earlier in the week.
Cruz Azul go on to meet Real Madrid in the second semi-final which FIFA have announced will now be held in Marrakesh.
Western Sydney Wanderers were furious following their elimination from the tournament by Cruz Azul due to the state of the pitch and incompetent refereeing.
Torrential rain in the stadium in Rabat led to the pitch being waterlogged, with large patches of standing water making the game something of a lottery. After leading until the last minute of regulation time until, down to 10 men, a (deserved) penalty was awarded against them in the 89th minute. In extra time they went down to 9 men, eventually losing 3-1.
Ivorian referee Noumandiez Desire Doue’s performance was described as “disgusting” and “farcical” by Western Sydney’s goalkeeper Ante Covic after Nikolai Topor-Stanley was sent off for two yellow cards – the first of which was a case of mistaken identity and one of Cruz Azul’s penalties undeserved.
In a statement, FIFA did not comment on the refereeing but said: “Due to difficult pitch conditions at the Complexe Sportif Prince Moulay Abdellah Rabat, the FIFA Organising Committee has decided after consultation with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to play match 4 (Cruz Azul FC v. Real Madrid CF) in Marrakech and not in Rabat as previously scheduled. The match will kick-off on Tuesday 16 December at 19:30 local time.”
The pitch conditions have been reported as an embarrassment for the Moroccan hosts, particularly as FIFA had originally hoped the tie would be held in Agadir and comes on top of anger over Morocco’s failure to host the African Cup of Nations.
The FIFA Club World Cup is now played on an annual basis and presented by Toyota with the participants being seven teams including the host country along with the six club teams representing each continent.
Coach Ramon Tribulietx summed up the achievement of his Auckland City side, saying; “We’re still only semi-professional – we’re not professional at all. We’re definitely still underdogs.
“Coming here and reaching the semi-finals of the Club World Cup, it’s unbelievable. It’s too big for us. It’s fantastic.”
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