Club World Cup: the Outstanding Debt of Latin American Teams

The 2022 Club World Cup has once again been left in the hands of the participating European team, an aspect that continues to expand the advantage of this continent. Over the years, Latin America has become one of the great disappointments of this competition, if its poor results in recent editions of the tournament are taken into account.

Eleven Years of the Last Title

The American continent has not won this championship since 2012, marking eleven years since a Latin American team has been considered the best in the world. In that year's edition, the Brazilian team Corinthians left the name of the continent high, managing to beat Chelsea from England in the final.

Since that year, Latin American teams have been constantly failing in this intercontinental competition. The results have begun to set off alarm bells among soccer managers on this continent. Teams like River Plate, Palmeiras, Atlético Nacional, San Lorenzo, Atlético Mineiro and Flamengo have had poor performances in this tournament.

The Last Disappointment

The last team that has had a bad performance in this competition is Flamengo from Brazil. It is a team that has been considered one of the best on the Latin American continent in recent years due to the quality of the players it has in its squad. When everyone gave "Mengão" as the clear favorite to reach the grand final, the Brasileirao team has been eliminated in the semifinals of the competition.

In their commitment against Al-Hilal from Saudi Arabia, the Brazilian team has been surprisingly outclassed by this Arab team, which had the chance to take advantage of all the individual errors in this match. With the premature elimination of Flamengo, the bad streak of Latin American teams that fail to reach the final of this competition is extended.

With this string of poor results, several experts have mentioned that these consecutive failures are due to the level of competition that the continent is experiencing. For many years there has been an imbalance between countries. In addition to this, the contempt held for Arab and Asian soccer has become essential to capitalize on these failures.

Europe Leads

Due to these premature eliminations, it is considered that Latin America does not have the power it had a few years ago, in which its teams came to play the final of this competition in the best way against the squads of the old continent. This statement responds to the wins that these teams have received when they face the European champion. These commitments are a clear example of the difference that exists at the sporting level.

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The string of Latin American failures in this competition has led several CONMEBOL executives to begin to propose alternatives, so that the Copa Libertadores champions have the possibility of once again being at the top of the world. This is why it is recommended that the group that will play the Club World Cup in 2023 representing Latin America have greater incentives for their presentations.

Perspective Shifts

One of the big changes that must be applied is that the teams that go to this competition focus on demonstrating their talent, since excessive confidence has come to weigh in the decisive moments in the previous phases of this competition. For this reason, it has been mentioned that all Latin American clubs should focus on defeating their Asian and Arab rivals first, before worrying about the European team.

Another fundamental aspect to win the title again in this competition is to stop seeing the European teams as invincible. It is common that before the game begins the Latin American team is seen as the weakest and this is an inconvenience when facing the competition. The clubs of the continent must compete in the best way and with a clear strategy in this type of encounter.

Finally, it is hoped that with these consecutive failures a lesson will be learned, which will lead to further improvement. With discipline and strategy, they will begin to face this competition with the appropriate level to achieve a new championship for the continent.