The 2023 Club World Cup ended in the early morning of December 16, Beijing time, and the host Jeddah United lost 1-3 to the African champion Cairo National from Egypt (also translated as Al Ahly), missing the semi-finals, and Benzema missed a key penalty. In the other match, AFC Champions League champions Urawa Red Diamonds defeated CONCACAF champions Leon 1-0.
The semi-finals of this Club World Cup have already been matched: in the early hours of December 19, Fluminense, the winner of the Copa Libertadores, will face Cairo Nacional;In the early morning of December 20, Champions League champions Manchester City faced Urawa Red Diamonds.
Jeddah United boasts 2022 Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema and former France international N'Golo Kante, with the traditional African powerhouse Cairo Nationals boasting a strong whole. In the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, Liverpool superstar Mohamed Salah led Egypt to a runners-up finish, and Cairo Nationals now boasts eight Egypt internationals.
Although Jeddah United is at home, the overall strength is not as good as that of its opponents. Cairo Nationals broke the deadlock in the 21st minute when left-back Malor converted a penalty. In the 41st minute, N'Golo Kante's cross caused a handball by visiting centre-back Abdul Muneim, and Jeddah United were also awarded a penalty. Benzema's penalty was disrupted by a laser pointer from a visiting fan, and his shot was of poor quality, with a half-high shot saved by Egypt international Al-Sinavi.
The use of laser pointers is a "bad Xi" of African fans, and in a penalty shootout in the 2022 World Cup African qualifiers, Salah took a penalty kick and shot away, because of the interference of Senegalese fans' laser pointers, Mane's African Cup of Nations champions Senegal eliminated Africa Cup of Nations runners-up Egypt.
In the second half, three Egypt internationals showed their talents. Centre-forward Kahraba provided two assists in the 59th and 62nd minutes, with left winger Shahat and midfielder Ashur scoring respectively to give Cairo Nacional a 3-0 lead and the game was out of suspense early. The Cairo nationals, who are not well known, made the most of the opportunity to showcase themselves on the Club World Cup stage, with Shahat imitating Cristiano Ronaldo's signature celebration of shouting "siu" after his goal and Ashur imitating former France international Gomis' classic beast crawling celebration after his goal.
It wasn't until the second minute of stoppage time that Benzema scored a slightly face-saving goal for Jeddah United. Another Egypt midfielder, Atea, was not directly involved in the goal, but his overall performance stood out, and he overshadowed the two great players of Jeddah and N'Golo Kante and Fabinho in the midfield confrontation, and Ateaya was named the best player of the match.
Text |Reporter Liu Yi.