Just days after Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup, the focus will return to football in the Middle East once again when UAE hosts the Fifa Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.
UAE’s Pro League champions Al Wahda will face Oceania champions Hekari United from Papua New Guinea in the opening match at the Mohammed bin Zayed stadium in the capital on Wednesday to kick start this annual competition where European champions Inter Milan will start as favourites.
Inter booked their place at the annual tournament in Abu Dhabi by ending a 45-year wait for Europe’s top club prize with a 2-0 defeat of Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in May.
It will be Inter’s first appearance at the tournament, contested by the champion clubs from all six continental confederations, and club ambassador Luis Figo says “winning it has become an over-riding objective for the club”.
Inter’s strongest challenge will likely come from another Inter, Brazilian champions Internacional, who claimed their second Copa Libertadores crown with a 5-3 aggregate victory over Mexicans Guadalajara in August.
Internacional won the 2006 World Club Cup, beating Barcelona 1-0 in the final in Tokyo, and they will become the first previous winners to take part in the tournament, since it was renamed as the club World Cup, for a second time.
The two Inters will not enter the competition until the semi-final stage, however, with five other teams bidding to join them in the last four.
African champions Tout Puissant Mazembe tackle CONCACAF Champions League winners Pachucha of Mexico in the first quarter-final on December 10.
South Korean side Seongham Ilhwa, the Asian champions, enter the fray a day later and will play the winners of Wednesday’s playoff game between Hekari United and Al Wahda.
It will be a venture into the unknown for both sides who know little about each other but are determined to shine on the world stage.
Abu Dhabi-based Al Wahda may enjoy home advantage but will be under pressure to set the record straight after Dubai side Al Ahli crashed out in the opener against amateur side Auckland City in this same tournament last year.
Hekari will not have such pressures as they seek to create history after becoming the first team from Pacific Islands to qualify for this event.
“We are looking forward to experience this level of competition. We have nothing to lose. We want to show the world what the island nations can do. We are excited,” said Tommy Mana, assistant coach of the club on the eve of the biggest match.
“We are aware that Al Wahda have a few Brazilian players and their No.10 (Ismail Mattar) is a local star. But we are here to win,” he said.
Weighing in on the debate about amateur and professional players, club captain Andrew Lepani said once they take the field there won’t be any difference between them and the opposition.
“We are just football players and we mean business. We want to win this match. We want to do the same thing what Auckland City did last year representing Oceania,” he said.
“Beautiful thing about football is it unites everyone regardless of what status you are or where you come from in the world. That’s the way we view it as players,” added Lepani.
Hekari owner John Kapi Natto said it was their self belief which had catapulted this seven-year-old club onto the world stage.
“I think we can become more competitive than any other teams in the world. Most important thing is one has to believe in yourself. Lot of island players believe that we can beat sides from New Zealand and Australia. We believed in ourselves and proved to the world that we can come this far even though we don’t have facilities like other professional teams,” he said.
“We would like to reach to a status where we could achieve something. We want Hekari to set the standard in Oceania,” he said.
However, they will be up against which has been virtually nursed by the UAE Football Association (UAEFA) to prepare for this event to prevent last year’s debacle.
The UAE FA did not to pick Al Wahda players for the National team for the Gulf Cup and Asian Games so as to keep the group together for the Fifa showpiece.
Al Wahda have also been bolstered by the return of coach Josef Hickersberger, who led them to the title domestic league title last season.
In addition to the firepower of their Brazilian striker Fernando Baiano, Ivory Coast’s Modibi Diarra and Matar, Al Wahda have skipper Haider Alo Ali, Saeed Al Kathiri, Adel Al Hosni and UAE Under-20 captain Hamdan Al Kamali in their line-up.
“We don’t know much about them but I managed to get an idea after watching them play a league match,” Hickersberger said.
The chairman of the organising committee of the Fifa Club World Cup and Fifa executive committee member Chuck Blazer was pleased with the preparations of the UAE, which will host the Fifa Club World Cup for the second time.
Abu Dhabi had also hosted the tournament in 2009. This year marks the final year of competition in Abu Dhabi before the tournament returns to Japan in 2011. Seven teams will compete over the course of eight matches for a prize fund of $16.5 million, with the champions earning $5 million.
“We had a good experience last year. The warmth and the hospitality of the UAE was great and it touched everyone. This year, the preparedness has been met,” Blazer said on Tuesday.
UAE Football Association president Mohammed Khalfan Al Rumaithi reaffirmed that the conduct of the event will be smoother than last year.
There were a few glitches last year when it came to ticketing and lesser crowds at stadiums.
“This is actually one of the lessons we had drawn from last year. That is why we introduced the e-ticketing system which was launched in September. It was to improve the situation. People usually focus on the semifinals and the final. But Al Wahda are a popular club in the local community and there will be huge support for them,” Al Rumaithi said.
The tournament runs till December 18 and will be played at two venues - Zayed Sports City and the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium.
Meanwhile, Fifa Secretary General Jerome Valcke said that the UAE has the chance to bid for the Fifa Club World Cup again. The tournament returns to Japan for 2011 and 2012. Brazil hosted the inaugural competition in 2000 and Japan has hosted it from 2005 to 2008.
“The FIFA Club World Cup this year will be better than 2009. There is potential for the UAE to bid for the tournament again as it goes back to Japan,” Valcke said on Tuesday.
Valcke said that the format of the tournament will remain the same till 2014 and they will see if any changes need to be made.
“The format of the tournament will remain the same till 2014. After that, we will discuss the format and the future of the tournament,” he said.
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