From the comments that I have read by Carlo Ancelotti and Paolo Maldini, AC Milan is taking this tournament very seriously.

Traditionally, as you have noted, the competition and its precursor have taken place in December.

For the Boca Juniors, they aren’t able to utilize the talents of Juan Roman Riquelme due to a technicality. Since he was relegated to the terraces at Villarreal, he still maintained great from for Argentina in recent matches, and recently re-joined Boca.

With the new tournament type of bracket, it provides lesser known teams with an opportunity for exposure. Perhaps this is not a heavily followed event in World Football; however, it is a FIFA sanctioned club world championship.