Fierce battle in the top 32 of the Club World Cup! Messi leads the showdown between giants, can Saudi Arabia s "money ability" overturn Real Madrid?

In the early morning of June 15, the American football desert was suddenly lit - 32 teams were like eight boxes of colorful matches, "swish" to cut open the matchbox of the Club World Cup. This situation is much more lively than the small circle of the seven previous teams, and even the NBA fans next door can't help but glance at the football field. After all, the $1 billion prize pool is there, and it is converted into a hamburger that can circle the earth three times. Which player doesn’t want to take a bite?

Messi's Miami International kick-off opening game is more dazzling than the sunshine in Los Angeles. I remember that he could make headlines when he was walking on Miami Beach last year. Now he is running in his jersey. It is estimated that the global social platforms will be flooded by the "old man from Argentina" again. Paris Saint-Germain is the finale of the Champions League champion. These guys who just pressed Inter Milan to the ground and rubbed them all walk with wind, as if the team logo on their chests were emitting golden light. The most interesting thing is that Real Madrid plays against Riyadh Crescent, and the Champions League champion is the AFC Champions League champion, just like a Michelin three-star chef meets an internet celebrity food blogger. Is it a traditional craft that wins or traffic is the king? It depends on how the kitchen cooks this dish in the finals on July 14th.

Messi's Dusk Battle: The last puzzle of the 38-year-old veteran

Miami International vs. Cairo Nationals, which is not so much a game as a solo show. At the age of 38, he stood in the middle circle with a few more gray hair than last year, but the football under his feet still seemed to have glued it. Suarez and Busquets, the two old partners, were humming a pre-retirement march next to him - think about it, Barcelona's "MSN" combination could tear the opponent's defense to pieces, but now the three old men are playing football on the beach in Miami, and suddenly they feel "Liang Po is old, can he still have a meal."

Cairo people certainly don't want to be background boards. Although its value is several times lower than Miami, the African team's resilience is like a cactus in the desert - do you think you can knock it down with just a little water? I remember that in the 2019 African Cup, didn’t Algeria force Nigeria to a penalty shootout? Sometimes football is not based on book numbers, but the ruthlessness of adrenaline when it soars. Maybe if Messi is not careful, he will be bitten off by these "dark horses".

The "vegetable abuse" of European giants: Bayern plays amateur team like adults and children

Bayern plays against Auckland City, and the result of this game is even more accurate than the weather forecast. The net worth of 860 million euros is equivalent to hitting a small wooden boat with an aircraft carrier. But then I thought about it, the players in Auckland City might be more excited than anyone else. Usually, they play in Oceania, and there are fewer spectators than players. Now they can compete with Mueller and Kane. Even if they are given ten goals, they can still brag to their grandson for the rest of their lives when they go back: "Grandpa defended the world's top forward back then!"

Bayern is probably thinking about how to "act". The main player plays for half the game, and the rest of the time allows the substitutes to go up to experience the experience. Anyway, qualifying in the group stage is as easy as drinking beer. But fans may not buy it: I spent a lot of money to buy tickets and wanted to watch the star performance. Do you ask the second team to come up and play health care ball? If this were the Bundesliga, the home fans would have thrown their beer bottles long ago.

The counterattack of gold and dollar football: Can the Saudi team overturn Real Madrid?

Real Madrid vs. Riyadh Crescent is the most interesting topical composition in this Club World Cup. The Galaxy Battleship with a 1.4 billion euro encounters a 150 million "money ability" team, just like an old nobleman encounters a new rich man - the former has more than a dozen Champions League trophys hidden in his home, while the latter has a checkbook that can knock people down. New players like Mitrovic and Cancelo are like the playing cards in Riyadh Crescent. Although the cards are not top-notch, they have gathered the flush of "Golden Dollar Football".

Real Madrid definitely dare not underestimate the enemy. Think about it, the lesson of being a frustrated by a weak team in the Champions League last year was still very warm. Ancelotti probably repeatedly chanted in the locker room: "Don't think that the Middle East team is easy to bully. Their forwards run more fiercely than Spanish bullfights!" But then again, football is not a money-burning game after all. Real Madrid's passing and control system is like a precision clock. Even if Riyadh Crescent bought parts from all over the world, whether it can be assembled into instruments of the same precision depends on the chemistry of 22 people on the field.

The joys and sorrows of staying up late: The competition at 3:00 am is like love

The group stage is set at 0:00, 3:00, and 6:00 am, which is simply a precise blow to the workers. The 0:00 yard is suitable for night owls. You can go to work after watching the 6:00 yard. The most tormenting thing is the 3:00 yard - sleep, afraid of missing goals; don't sleep, you can type the keyboard out of Mars when you go to work the next day. But what do real fans care about this? As netizens said: "It's not about staying up late, it's about the football faith in youth." The finals are scheduled to be at 3 a.m. on July 14, and this time is chosen to be very thief--not only takes care of European audiences' prime time, but also forces Asian fans to stay up late. But then I thought that being able to watch a final that might be recorded in history in the late summer night with cold beer is a topic of reminiscence even if I dozed off at work the next day.

The expansion of the Club World Cup to the 32nd team is on the surface a "global football party", but in fact it hides the ambition of capital. European giants make a fortune by crushing their value, and Saudi teams use money to create a sense of presence, while small teams like Auckland City are just background boards in capital games. Some people say this is the progress of football's globalization, some people say this is the death of pure competition - when trophy is linked to bonuses, when players' flow becomes a money transaction, will the most authentic passion and dream of football slowly disappear into the wave of capital?

Perhaps we should think from a different perspective: no matter how capital intervenes, every touch of Messi, every fight between Paris and Atletico Madrid, and every shot of Riyadh Crescent are still full of pure passion. Football is never a black or white game. It has both the smell of commercial and the utopia of dreams.. As for the Club World Cup will eventually be written as a legend of capital, or a fairy tale of civilians? Let’s see who can stand on the championship podium and hold up the golden trophy in the early morning of July.