The Night The Unbelievable Nearly Happened: United’s Difficult Victory in the World Club Cup
Underestimating your adversary is a poor strategy in any competition.
Last night in Yokohama, where they were contesting the final of the World Club Cup, Manchester United came dangerously close to doing that. Their opponent, Copa Libertadores champion Liga de Quito of Ecuador, put up a courageous fight. Proving themselves a far more formidable opponent than expected, at the end a talented and experienced Liga side had mighty United on the back foot.
When in the 90th minute a fully extended Edwin van der Sar managed to tip Damián Manso’s blazing strike from distance just over the bar, the quiet sigh of relief in the United camp was almost audible.
Manso had terrorized van der Sar earlier, coming wickedly close with a 25-yard bolt in the 62nd minute; that had been Liga’s first shot on goal, but it marked a turning point in this match–the last third of which saw United on the defensive, all its holding skills required to deal with the surprising threat on the wings from Liga’s speedy and mercurial Luis Bolanos and from–above all–the aggressive, confident Argentine veteran Manso, whose sure touch, excellent delivery and rampaging forward motion appeared to catch the European champions entirely off guard.
But perhaps United should be forgiven for failing to anticipate the threat represented by Manso and Bolanos. The very useful Goal.Com rating system for world players ranks Manso third and Bolanos fifteenth among all midfielders (To put this in perspective, Xavi ranks fifth, Cesc Fabregas sixth, Kaka ninth–and the highest ranked Englishman, Frank Lampard, no higher than 18th).
Certainly the English media were caught unawares. Both Barry Glendenning of the Guardian and Chris Bevan of the BBC, in their match reports, referred repeatedly to Damián Manso as Alejandro Manso (Andy Hunter, in his followup piece in the Guardian, repeated his colleague’s mistake) (Editor: Alejandro is Damian Manso’s middle name). No doubt their error was the result of limited research–but again, they too might be forgiven, since the sponsoring wisdom of FIFA, as evidenced in their website and publicity releases (which Barry and Chris must have been following, how else explain their common laziness), equally failed to include the correct first name for this wonderful player, who is renowned throughout South America but obviously unknown to the xenophobic sages of European football.
Certainly the twenty-nine-year-old veteran Damián “Piojo” Manso is well known in Argentina, where he played brilliantly for Newell’s Old Boys of Rosario in 1996-2001 and 2002-2005. His teammates at Newell’s in those years included the likes of Maxi Rodriguez, Gabriel Heinze and Gabriel Batistuta; among those behind him in the side was a Newell’s youth team player and local Rosario lad named Lionel Messi.
And indeed Damián Manso did finally earn the attention–and respect–not only of the twice-challenged van der Sar but of United captain Rio Ferdinand, arguably the finest central defender in what is generally considered the most powerful football league on the planet. Not that Rio had gone so far as to be able to put a name on the number of the man who had been such an irritant all night. “That little left footed front man, number 21, is a fantastic footballer,” Ferdinand fairly conceded to a Japanese interviewer after the match.
At least Rio Ferdinand had sorted out the numbers. The Guardian’s Glendenning, whose strongest assertion all night had been his stated wish that the match would end in 90 minutes so that he could get back to London to complete his holiday preparations (“I’ve got lots to do to clear the decks before heading home to my mammy in Ireland for Christmas”), computed Manso’s laserlike stroke-of-90-minutes near-miss as coming three minutes before that–and, most curiously, credited the shot not to the man who had taken it but to another Liga player, Claudio Bieler.
Ah well, why bother to get things right in a game everyone in the English media had treated all along as the culmination of a ridiculous folly of a tournament?
United took the match–1-0 on a splendid 73rd minute Wayne Rooney goal–and won the Cup. Without much celebration, as it had been a somewhat harrowing contest. And there was that long flight home. And the prospect of Stoke City to contend with on Boxing Day.
But then United know what to expect from a hapless Stoke side, having punished them without much mercy in an easy 5-0 win last month at Old Trafford.
Stoke unlike Liga have proven themselves worthy of no more than limited respect. Of course we’ve heard endlessly of the threat posed by the epic throw-ins of Stoke’s Rory Delap. Delap is by now a name everyone in the wide world of football knows. Still, it seems that not even after he scared United half to death last night is anyone in the charmed kingdom of Premier League triumphalism able to get Damián Manso’s name right.
Why is this? Is xenophobia an English virtue?
Coming into this final, contributors on English websites, eager to demonstrate their cultural provincialism, consistently disparaged the Ecuadoran side. Liga de Quito would provide–it was thought–no more than a straw foe for might United to easily bowl over. One particularly confident blogging dummy referred to them as “LDU Quinto”. Why bother to know who you’re playing when you don’t even expect a serious game?
The odd thing is, there are parts of the world where Liga de Quito is taken very seriously indeed. Brazil, for example, where, rumour has it, people know a bit about football. In order to qualify for the World Club Cup, Liga had to come out on top in the grueling Copa Libertadores competition, the highest club-level prize available to sides from South America and Mexico.
Getting to the July final of the Libertadores–the decisive second leg was an unforgettably intense, emotional match played before 90,000 highly-involved Brazilian fans in the mammoth Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro–took six months of hard labor on Liga’s part. There was no fluke in their victory. Up 4-2 over Fluminense after the first leg at home in Ecuador, they found themselves brought level at 5-5 aggregate after two spectacular goals from Flu’s marvelous Thiago Neves (another brilliant South American player virtually unknown in Europe before his move to Hamburg SV). Amidst the rocking euphoria of the Maracana, however, Liga held on. In a penalty shootout their great 37-year-old keeper Jose Francisco Cevallos, the final’s most valuable player, saved three kicks–and perhaps also the life of Liga manager Edgardo Bauza, whose isolated agony during the fraught shootout, caught by television images, provides one of the more interesting emotional dramas in recent football history.
You can see the riveting highlights of that memorable final here:
First Leg Highlights
Second Leg Highlights
After the Libertadores victory Liga returned to their own league, where, like United, they have had their own struggles. In the recently concluded Ecuadoran Apertura, they finished second to local rivals Deportivo Quito. Their title-deciding end-of-November clasico against Deportivo was a magnificent affair, closely-contested, every ball fought for with great feeling; it was a match that will be remembered in Ecuador for many years. But don’t take my word for it, look for yourself:
As of course will many in South America–if not in Europe– remember this 2008 World Club Club final, a match that was regarded, in the run-up, with little more than ridicule and annoyance by the fans and press corps of the English champions. But just ask Rio Ferdinand if this was an easy night for United. Defeating the second-best side in Ecuador (and the best in South America) required every bit of energy left in United’s tank. You can bet that Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo had not anticipated being on the pitch a full 90 minutes, as in the event they were.
Liga stood brave and tall in defeat, though at the end the desolated keeper Cevallos sat gutted between his posts, watching the big screen at the other end of the stadium as though it might miraculously show a different outcome on a night when the unbelievable had nearly happened.
Topics: Manchester United, Match Reports
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How can you mock that guy from the guardian for his name researching if you constantly misspell the name of the Manchester United goalkeeper? But I have to agree with you, the English press’ view at ‘other’ football can generally be described as arrogant.
December 21st, 2008 @ 20:31First half LDQ didnt see much of the ball. They had a fantastic oppotunity to go ahead after a free kick but didnt take it. They didnt have much posession and looked slightly slow in their movements. Their goaly sa some action and did well to keep things level.
December 21st, 2008 @ 20:45Into the second half they woke up more and had a few attempts on goal which Uniteds vastly experinced goalkeeper took are of. In the end Man U got the goal they needed and LDQ didnt. It could have gone either way looking at goal mouth incidents but fergys men are now on top of the world!!
I didnt actually check the medias observation about the ‘other’ football teams. But thy should have a look into who is actually playing in these ‘English’ clubs. It wasnt that long ago that you didnt see an Englishman playing at Arsenal.
December 21st, 2008 @ 20:52Look at Man U, 3 players that started were English. 3 were South American.Europe is flooded with non EU players and that is the current trend in the English Premier League which we call the best league in the world. And why is it the best, because the best talent comes here and helps make english clubs great.
Koewart–Sorry to have put an extra “a” into Van der Sar. (If I’d been paid for writing this I’d be even sorrier.) Probably not quite as bad as calling him “Alejandro”, though. And you know, I shouldn’t have faulted only Barry, because his Guardian colleague Andy Hunter made the same mistake, as did everybody else whose research for this game consisted of reading the FIFA website info. So let’s see, the Guardian, the BBC and FIFA have one thing in common: never having heard of the third-ranked midfielder in the world. Could the fact he plays in South America have something to do with that?
December 21st, 2008 @ 22:48“Why is this? Is xenophobia an English virtue?”
Clearly not as you’ve just proven. I am neither English nor based in Europe but your whole stance on this nonsense competition has been xenophobic towards Europe/England/Utd.
The game report is a joke. Utd. dominated from start to finish, despite being down to 10 men for most of the 2nd half. It actually appeared that Liga were playing with 10 men.
“but it marked a turning point in this match—the last third of which saw United on the defensive”
Absolute rubbish. Watch it again and try to control your blatant bias. It was in the last third that Utd. scored.
As for the match stats:
Utd: 64% possession (against a team who don’t look like they know what to do when they have the ball)
Utd.: 16 shots to 7.
And Liga racked-up 21 fouls showing how they approach skill and talent.
Useless competition but you badly need to get some perspective!
As for Liga, all the have shown is that they know how to defend well and hang-on, both in the final and against your own team. If that’s the best South America has to offer they’re in a sorry state but we both know that they did not worthy SA justice.
December 21st, 2008 @ 23:17@ BD and @ tom clark: youre both partly right.
@ tom: liga were underestimated, and they werent given due respect by the arrogant english media. i hate all media coverage on football here, especially commentary. i had heard of them and their players, and followed their progress as well. i watched the finals of the copa libertadores too. but thats where you start being wrong, dead wrong. BD is correct to say that united owned liga almost from the go. but manso is a fantasti cplayer.
but BD says that “If that’s the best South America has to offer they’re in a sorry state”, but im not sure hes aware they sold their best players eg guerron over the usmme,r os were weakened.
December 22nd, 2008 @ 01:54Hi Tom. You’ve written some very entertaining articles for this site, but this one is nonsense. You clearly know more than most about football outside Europe, but your assessment of this game – and its coverage in Europe – is heavily biased.
I despise Man U, and badly wanted Liga to make a game of it, which is why I was so disappointed by what showed up. They seemed much more cowed by United than a less competent Gamba side did in the semi, and showed much less ambition, aggression, or creativity. United’s sending off barely changed things, and you got the feeling that Liga might need a couple more sent off before they’d start having a go.
If your complaint is that the competition isn’t given enough respect, you don’t need to look further than this game for an explanation.
December 22nd, 2008 @ 03:11Honestly mate, you’ve got to get off your, biased, high horse.
maybe you should have mentioned that Vidic got sent off, and yet United scored on them and only then, in the last 10 minutes, did United play “on the defensive”.
That was only because they were protecting a one goal lead with 10 men.
No doubt there is something to be said about laziness in journalism itself, not limiting it to football media only. But come on, they didn’t know the player’s name, so they checked the FIFA website, which is akin to checking with the police checking government records about a suspect’s ID: if the record is wrong, it’s not the police’s fault. (to be clear, I’m not implying that LDQ players are shady or anything like that)
also, you’ll have to forgive the journalists for taking Goal.com’s ranking system as gospel (or even using it for that matter) I would make a wikipedia jibe here, but I can’t even find the ranking system on the site (the site looks fantastic and professional though, I’m not knocking the site)
“Underestimating your adversary is a poor strategy in any competition. Manchester United came dangerously close to doing that.”
Manchester United did not underestimate LDQ, say what you want of the Media, but the former claim is not one that you can back up.
December 22nd, 2008 @ 07:34Perhaps it would be useful to step aside and allow a word to a media voice from the other side, editor Paul Ochoa of the fine Futbolizados.com, a site that covers Ecuador as well as other footballing nations of South America. Here is Paul’s match report, with a video clip:
http://www.futbolizados.com/2008/12/21/mundial-de-clubes-manchester-united-campeon/
For those who don’t read Spanish, Paul’s conclusion, to paraphrase roughly, is that United was superior in all areas and is a deserving winner of the trophy–but that no one can disrespect the hard work of Liga de Quito, who came out of the match with heads held high and left a fine impression. (Paul gives man of the match honors to Liga keeper Cevallos, also man of the match in the Copa Libertadores final.)
December 22nd, 2008 @ 09:14Another interesting viewpoint from Tim Vickery:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/timvickery/2008/12/how_would_the_top_south.html
December 22nd, 2008 @ 09:19An entire article dedicated to a tournament worth less than the Mickey mouse cup…wow.
December 22nd, 2008 @ 12:19I love all your jist can you kindly let your readeers know when the fifa world player award will be out.
December 22nd, 2008 @ 13:32How on God greens earth did Manchester nearly loose this game!!
December 22nd, 2008 @ 13:38@ King Zizou
December 22nd, 2008 @ 14:13You seem like a bitter liverpool fan? remember the mickey mouse treble?
BD–Thanks for the link to the Tim Vickery blog. Of all English media sources, Tim is by far the most authoritative writer on South American football (not least of course because he lives in Rio de Janeiro). He points out, as I did in my first piece on the WCC (“A Second Look”, posted some days before the final) that Liga’s success in the Copa Libertadores ironically cost them something, as that competition showcased the brilliant Joffre Guerron; Guerron then left for Spain, and too the industrious midfielder Enrique Vera went to America of Mexico City. Tactics then dictated a defensive approach against United, which, together with the great work of Cevallos, almost but not quite saved the day for Liga. We all know that that conservative style of play is not as entertaining as the kind of open game United can play–and which Liga also showed themselves capable of in that wonderfully exciting Libertadores final against Flu, which saw ten great goals scored over the two legs. I hope some will look at the clips of those games and see what that smallish, unheard-of-in-Europe club could do when playing on its own continent against relatively comparable opposition (though again, Liga was the “mouse” and Fluminense the “lion” in that battle, making their victory all the more remarkable). But I’m afraid it’s finally a losing cause to expect any sort of fair consideration or respect out of “fans” who simply have their minds shut against anything they are not preconditioned to respect. And by the way, how is it Tim Vickery appears to actually be well-informed about South American football even though employed by the BBC? Does this mean it’s really possible for a reporter to dig a little further than the garbled PR “information” on a FIFA website that incorrectly states the first name of the best player on a club contending for a “world championship”?
Also: I will admit to having a soft spot in my heart for “mouse” and “minnow” clubs everywhere, when they come up against the corporate mega-giants of world football. But I suppose rooting for the underdog has latterly become as anachronistic as actually researching your articles. So I definitely don’t share Zizou’s “mouse” problem (but would be willing to recommend an exterminator in case this problem arises again next year, when yet another Euro mammoth may well be forced to a slow crawl to cope with yet another obscure but intelligent, brave and tenacious South American side.)
December 22nd, 2008 @ 15:05After winning copa libertadores, liga de Quito had to sell two of the its best players to some spanish teams….Can you imagine what would have been the result if manchester had sold cristiano ronaldo and rooney before this much for economic reasons?…Think about it!
December 22nd, 2008 @ 19:14Having read the article and the comments. I’m not quite sure what Tom Clark’s point is.
Is it to say Liga de Quito are a top team in World football? -This has been established as they were in the FIFA World Club Championship Final.
Is it to say Manchester United underestimated their opponents? -Ferguson selected a starting eleven that was the strongest available.
Is it to say Liga de Quito gave Manchester United a good match? -This depends on how you define a good match. The scoreline suggests that the match might have been a bit dull. The statistics suggest that Manchester United dominated Liga de Quito. From a viewers perspective, the match wasn’t end to end only until the last 10 minutes. From my own perspective, Liga de Quito did not create many chances and played defensively. They could have been 3-0 down at half time were it not for some good goalkeeping. Their only chances came from a set-piece in the first half, and a few long range efforts. The Gamba match was better in my opinion.
Is it to say the English media underestimated Liga de Quito? -The quality of English sports journalism is variable but to say all were misinformed about LDQ because of a few errors from certain media outlets is incorrect.
Is it to advertise and suggest that Tom Clark rates goal.com and their player world rankings highly? -It is possible as the article first refers to Manso as the 3rd best midfielder in their rankings; and later in the article refers to him as the 3rd best midfielder in the World.
December 22nd, 2008 @ 20:19Tom, I don’t disagree with most of what you say in #15 but you have gone way off on a tangent from the main point.
None of that deflects from the fact that your assessment of the game was way off the mark.
Many people favour the underdog and many in Europe & England wanted Utd. to lose. Favouring Utd. does not by extension mean disrespect for Liga but the point that they were a weaker representative of SA than normal is fair.
They were a surprise winner and yes, they had to sell some players (documented in Tim Vickery’s piece I provided a link to in the first article I posted on the subject here) but that only underlines their status.
I still think the tournament lacks credibility and fans are very divided on this but suggesting that the various reasons given are nothing but arrogance or xenaphobia is unfounded in the majority of cases.
December 22nd, 2008 @ 22:39I started watching the match with a great desire to see ManU humiliated yet I knew that ultimately they would prevail. But as far as gameplay, and despite the strong starting 11, ManU completely underestimated this game. It was clear since the beginning, their gameplay didn’t have the fluidity that we’ve come to expect from them. And they were tired to boot.
As for Liga they fought the best the could. Manso alone played absolutely fantastic. Probbably the best player on that pitch, in my opinion he completely overshadowed the likes of Roonie and Ronaldo. Of course Ronaldo’s antics were well received by the crowd, and they’re always enjoyable to watch, but when it comes down to it that’s really all he has! 1 on 1 moves. He’s being compared to Maradona and Pele… what a joke! When he can run half of the field with the ball, go around half of the opposing team and score then maybe i’ll give him some respect! for now he’s an overpaid kid who looks like a model and dives a lot! Besides, don’t we already have a male bimbo in football? Oh yea, forgot… Beckham is getting old!
But kudos to ManU for winning.
December 23rd, 2008 @ 04:29@LFC Fan
“But kudos to ManU for winning.”
After an outburst of typical Liverpool anti-Utd spite you finish with that! Classic!
P.S. Could this be Liverpool’s year??
December 23rd, 2008 @ 05:05BD–Personal perspectives are always hard to measure. Here I thought LFC Fan to be the first commentator to share an objective view with us. And Marcio’s brief but highly relevant comment also bears reflecting upon. You however trashed the whole tournament in advance, so it’s hard to regard anything you’ve said since as more than a defense of an original extreme position. After watching a few interesting games in the early stages, I was ready to give the whole affair a chance, and in the end I’m glad I did. I find extended unwinnable arguments boring however. And this is definitely beginning to feel like one of those.
December 23rd, 2008 @ 16:05