Like it or not, the Club World Cup is happening this summer and as the tournament kicks off on Sunday, what better way to reluctantly throw open our arms and welcome the tournament than by previewing the first of two Italian participants to the tournament: Internazionale Milano.
Now, I’m treading dodgy ground here because my last prediction blog for Inter didn’t fare too well. Read it in this post here, but essentially Frattesi didn’t kick a ball, Lautaro was missing and Acerbi had no one to mark and they lost 5-0.
So let’s steer clear of making bold predictions this time and just stick to the facts. Who are Inter playing, what are they like and when are the games on.
Tournament Overview
Let’s start with a simple one, the tournament starts on Sunday June 15th and will run until July 13th when the final is held at New York’s MetLife Stadium.
The group stage runs until June 26th and features eight groups of four, as per previous international World Cups the top two from each group progress. Inter were drawn in Group E.
Group E
Group E features Italy’s own Inter Milan, along with River Plate from Argentina, Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan and Mexico’s CF Monterrey.
Inter kick things off on Tuesday 17th June at 6pm local time as they face Monterrey at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Los Angeles. The team touched down there overnight and have a few days training to adjust to the rather insane time difference.
Their second and third matches both take place at Lumen Field in Seattle, facing Urawa Red Diamonds on Saturday June 21st and River Plate in what is likely to be a group decider on the 25th.
Let’s take a closer look at each team involved…
Inter Milan
Shaky season for the Nerazzurri, placing second in the league to Napoli, coming a distant second in the Champions League final after a rather forgettable night in Munich and then losing their coach Simone Inzaghi straight after the final.
Christian Chivu is in place, though and will be eager to impress. There’s a lot of tired legs in the Inter squad which is the oldest on average in Serie A. However, new signings Petar Susic and Luis Henrique are young, refreshed and on the plane.
Inter are heavy favourites for the group, with an 81.2% chance of qualifying and a 63.3% chance to top the group according to Opta. Some of these Inter players need a big performance after their end to the season and I wouldn’t bet against a deep run into the latter stages of this competition. There will be pressure from owners Oaktree to perform and scoop some prize money if they want to have a productive summer.
River Plate
Potentially the trickiest team in the group for Inter. They qualified by being the top eligible representative based on the CONMEBOL’s four year ranking. River Plate are Argentina’s most famous powerhouse club and come packed with Libertadores pedigree.
Watch out for Franco Mastantuono. You probably saw him go viral earlier in the year with an insane free kick. The 10 is a generational talent and at 17 years old could probably rival Yamal for future Ballon D’Or’s and be the next Messi and Ronaldo.
River Plate were pleased to keep him for the tournament given the inevitable interest from Real Madrid who like to farm up young South Americans like hoarders. He may not be around much longer after the World Cup so he’ll be keen to go our with a bang.
At right back, 28 year old Gonzalo Montiel will add experience down the flanks. Montiel is a two time Copa America winner and one time World Cup winner so he’s no fool. He may pose just a few issues for Di Marco on that side as he’s known to like to push forward and pin wing backs deep. Chivu may consider Zalewski for this assignment.
One sight that may be familiar to Calcio fans in the River Plate ranks is centre back Lucas Martinez Quarta. Quarta spent 5 seasons in Italy with Fiorentina and represented La Viola 105 times in that spell. He recently rejoined the Argentine side and after averaging a goal every 11 games or so in Italy, he’s a centre back to be watched.
CF Monterrey
Qualified for the tournament through their CONCACAF Champions Cup ranking, they finished 7th in Liga MX and lost to Toluca in the quarter finals round on away goals.
After losing to Vancouver in the Champions Cup Round of 16 they probably don’t pose the biggest threat to Inter but in Los Angeles they’ll have a large Mexican crowd to back them and home advantage where weather is concerned.
A physical, high paced team, it may be the test that Inter just don’t need to start the tournament off after a long season. Uruguayan international Santiago Mele is a new signing and is likely to be between the sticks for the Mexicans given he was signed specifically for the tournament in the brief transfer window we’ve just had.
Their creative spark will likely come from Colombian Nelson Deossa in the centre of the park. The 25 year old is Monterrey’s most valuable player at €6m according to website Transfermarkt. Deossa provided 5 goals and 1 assist in his 21 matches this season, as well as picking up 3 yellow cards so he packs a punch as well as contributing in forward areas.
Urawa Red Diamonds
The 2022 AFC Champions League winners are the fourth team to make up Group E. Based at the impressive Saitama Stadium that was built for the 2002 World Cup (peak nostalgia era) they sit 3rd in the J-League and are taking a mid season break to compete in the Club World Cup.
This makes them arguably the freshest team competing and the three times AFC Champions League winners will be a danger if underestimated.
In 21 matches so far this season, Ryoma Watanabe has contributed 6 goals and 6 assists from wide positions. Their top scoring midfielder, his pace will be an issue, another headache potentially for Fede Di Marco!
Theirs South American flair in the side too, in the shape of Matheus Savio. The set piece specialist (no viral videos here) has contributed 2 goals and 6 assists so far this season from centre midfield. The guy has an engine apparently and his high energy performances will cause a problem for a tired and ageing Inter midfield.
What’s next?
Well the winners of Group E will face the runners up from Group F and with Inter tipped to qualify as group winners they’ll hope to secure a favourable tie in the next round. Finishing second means they’ll face the winners of Group F.
This means that their next opponents will be anyone from Fluminense (Brazil), Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Ulsan HD (Korea) or Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa).
After that it becomes a lot less clearer to predict, but there is the prospect in the Quarter Final of an early meeting with former boss Simone Inzaghi and his Al Hilal side, so keep your eyes on that…
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