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6 hours ago
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L-R: Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and Man City manager Pep Guardiola. (Reuters/AP)
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola came to the defence of the FIFA Club World Cup and said the ‘teams complain about the tournament because they are not here’, taking a direct dig at his old rival, former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who has criticised the tournament.
The tournament is under heavy scrutiny from around the world, with many teams and managers calling it a joke and not a football due to various reasons. Leading the criticism was Klopp, calling it the worst idea ever implemented in football. Klopp said the FIFA Club World Cup would put more strain on an already packed calendar for the players.
The Spanish manager of City, Guardiola, said he understands the viewpoint of his old competitor Klopp, who is now head of global football for Red Bull, who had a team involved in the tournament in Salzburg, yet he suggested people complaining might be jealous.
“I fought a lot with Jurgen many, many times. I know where his idea comes from. I respect him, I would defend his argument as well. At the same time, as managers, we are in a job. We don’t organise the competitions,” said Guardiola in a press conference ahead of their Round of 16 match against Al Hilal.
“Once we are here, we are proud. Many, many teams complain about these competitions because they are not here, otherwise they might love being here,” Guardiola added.
The new Club World Cup is a supersized version of what used to be a short tournament with only seven teams. The new edition includes 32 teams from around the world and will be held every four years. As its name suggests, it’s envisioned to be a club version of the World Cup for national teams.
“It’s a pointless competition. Whoever wins it will be the worst winner of all time because they’ll have played all summer and then gone straight back into the league. There are people who have never been involved in the day-to-day business of football and are now coming up with ideas,” Klopp had said to the German newspaper Die Welt a few days back.
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