Congratulations, Lille! You have been officially awarded the prestigious title of Pissy French Bitches 2007 (previous holders: Arsenal). They are now (a) blaming Man United for the over-crowding in the away end and (b) claiming that the game should be replayed because the referee let Giggs's goal stand. Both of which are bullshit.

Let's start with the free-kick. Yes, quite often the referee tells the teams that they have to wait for the whistle to restart play. He didn't do that this time. So when Lille spent too much time faffing around setting up their wall and Giggs took advantage of that, they have only themselves to blame. It's understandable that they feel hard done by, especially since they'd previously had a goal disallowed for a push on Vidic, but reacting as if they were going to take their ball and go home is needlessly petulant. It's the sort of behaviour I'd expect in my rec league (where, instead of referees, you call your own fouls and the teams award each other "spirit points" after the game; yeah, it works about as well as you'd expect), not from professional footballers.

As much attention as is being paid to this -- and when I finally saw the game, I was a little disappointed, because I was expecting a bigger kerfuffle -- the more serious issue is the trouble with the away fans. There are conflicting reports as to what exactly happened, but basically: there were too many fans in the away section of the stands, possibly because of people using fake tickets, possibly because of stadium staff not actually checking tickets and just letting people in. Some of those fans felt that they were in danger of being crushed and tried to climb out, and the security people dealt with this by spraying tear gas at the crowd. Which, as you can imagine, was a big help. The whole thing is just boggling to me. I mean, having to segregate away fans behind wire fences is boggling enough in the first place, considering that I'm used to North American stadiums where you can sit anywhere. I can accept that it's necessary in other places, but if you're going to do it, isn't the point to make it less dangerous for the fans, rather than more so?

Right, so: Massive organizational fuck-ups aside, what about the game? Well, United started brightly enough, with lots of possession, but not enough of it was in the final third of the pitch. Although they lined up in the 4-4-2 I was hoping for (hallelujah!), they were lacking the final ball to the strikers or players really driving forward from midfield. Lille did a good job of harrying them and closing down space in the midfield; I thought Jean Makoun was their best player and it's easy to see why United were interested in him. Gradually, though, it was looking as if the game would peter out into a scoreless draw, until Giggs stepped up to give United a crucial away goal. I hope they'll go all out to win the return leg at Old Trafford, because I thought a lot of their problem on Tuesday was due to their usual caution in European away games, despite the purportedly attacking formation.

This could have been one of the more interesting games of the tournament, seeing as it featured two teams who were fairly evenly matched. But the first half, at least, was rather dire. The highlight was probably the small group of America supporters in the corner with their very big drum. If I have a headache at the end of this, I'm going to blame the Mexican FA.

Club America had a few chances in the first half but just weren't able to score. I have a vague idea that I've commented here before about their woeful finishing.

Al Ahly broke the deadlock a few minutes before halftime with a free kick from Mohamed Aboutrika, which was curled in beautifully over the wall and past the keeper.

Club America responded by bringing on Cuauhtemoc Blanco at halftime, and he created the equalizer with a perfectly flighted cross that Salvador Cabanas headed home.

The game did spark to life a bit in the second half, but it was too late for me because I'd already fled inside to the media centre to warm up before the next match -- and bemoan the lack of anything resembling tea that might've helped with that.

Club America kept pressing, but to no result. Quite a few of their best chances fell to Claudio Lopez, who'd come on partway through the second half, but each and every time he just barely failed to connect.

Al Ahly went ahead again in the 79th minute, with another goal from Aboutrika -- who's currently the tournament's top scorer, with three goals in as many matches -- after he played a one-two with Flavio that split the Club America defence.

The final result: 2-1 to the Egyptian team. That might have been a bit harsh on Club America, especially if you judged the teams only on their second-half performance, but credit to Al Ahly because they played hard from the very beginning of the game. (Here's a telling statistic: Al Ahly committed 25 fouls versus America's 10. They basically just went out there and kicked the shit out of them.)

We're here in Yokohama for the opening act in tonight's doubleheader: the match between Al Ahly and Club America for the dubious honour of third place. The stadium's only about half full right now -- although there are lots of fans in Barcelona and Internacional wandering outside, fuelling up for the final later.

But let's pretend for a moment to be interested in the game ahead of us. I'm betting on Al Ahly to win this one. They've looked like a solid team in the first two games, although without any obvious stars like Inter or Barca have. Club America, on the other hand, were lucky to win their opening match against Jeonbuk, and are probably still reeling from that 4-0 thumping by Barcelona on Thursday.

Team news: For Club America, Claudio Lopez and Cuauhtemoc Blanco have both been left on the bench, after having failed to do much of anything in their first two matches. Midfielder German Villa has also been dropped, while Matias Vuoso and Juan Mosqueda both get their first start. Al Ahly will be fielding a virtually unchanged lineup, with the exception of backup keeper Amir Abdelhamid, who comes in for number one Essam El Hadary.

So far, the World Club Cup has gone exactly the way you would have expected. All the higher-ranked teams have beaten their opponents, and it's going to be the favourites Barcelona and Internacional in the final, while Auckland and Jeonbuk duke it out for fifth place tonight.

I'm sure that's good news for the marketing and ticket people, who want to see the big names go as far as possible, but for a neutral observer, it's a little bit disappointing. How great would it have been to see one of the heavy hitters stumble, or the minnows pull out a win? It's the unpredicability of football that makes it great, after all.

A few lingering questions from yesterday's match:

1. Why do they play Seven Nation Army at halftime in all the games? The wise and wonderful Google tells me that it was apparently a popular chant with the Italian fans during the World Cup...but that doesn't answer the question of why FIFA has picked up on it. Anyone?

2. Why was Al Ahly keeper Essam El Hadary wearing long pants but short sleeves? I'm pretty sure he's got it backwards. (I should note here that he also went down with what looked like cramp in the 80th minute and had to be substituted. His replacement had proper shorts on; draw your own conclusions.)

3. What's up with the strange combination of food at the stalls around the stadium? Last night they were selling everything from nigiri to corn dogs.

4. Why wasn't Renteria even on the teamsheet for Internacional? After I went to all that effort on Youtube the other day! (Oh, never mind: I just looked it up and turns out he got knocked out with an ankle injury at the beginning of the month. No word on whether the injury was in any way related to his goal celebration.)

5. How long before Pato picks himself up an endorsement deal, a rumoured trade to Barcelona, and a WAG (not necessarily in that order)?

Internacional booked themselves a place in the final, where they'll face either Barcelona or Club America, with a 2-1 victory over Al Ahly. And despite my prediction yesterday, I think they were lucky to get the win.

Internacional started with a 4-3-3 formation, while Al Ahly were lined up 5-3-2 -- so you can judge for yourself which team was planning an attacking versus a defensive strategy. But the Brazilians seemed to be nervous from the kickoff, with both teams pinging the ball around in midfield but neither side able to hold onto possession for long.

Gradually Inter settled down, and they were rewarded with a goal from Alexandre Pato. Fernandao nearly put him through on goal, but Pato stumbled over the pass, and then as the defenders tried to play themselves out of trouble, Pato latched onto a loose ball and was free to slot it into the net. After that opening goal, however, Internacional slacked off a bit and their passing got sloppy. Al Ahly's best moves came from using their wingbacks and shifting the ball out wide, but they were let down by some terrible finishing, as they skied two or three chances over the crossbar and also hit the post.

Eventually, though, the Egyptians' persistence paid off. A mishit clearance from the Internacional keeper caromed off a defender and out for a throw. From the throw, the cross was played in quickly and Flavio -- who was probably their best player, as you could tell by the way the Inter fans kept swearing at him -- nodded it into the back of the net.

You might have expected the equalizer to galvanize the Brazilians, but Al Ahly continued to be the stronger team, whereas the Inter players persisted in shooting from 40 yards out to no apparent purpose. They were saved by substitute Luiz Adriano, who'd come on for Pato just a few minutes before after the Duck went down with cramp. The winning goal came from a corner, as Adriano connected with a header that just sneaked into the far corner. That seemed to sap the confidence from Al Ahly, and they never looked like taking the match to extra time (for which I was very grateful, since the cold had caught up with me once again).


Since everyone else is doing it, my thoughts on 17-year-old wunderkind Pato: My first impression was not positive, since he was wearing yellow boots (don't get me started on my beliefs about the proper colours for football boots) and what looked like a dicky under his jersey. But the kid is undeniably talented, although he needs to learn to cool it with some of his little tricks -- like juggling the ball on his shoulder, which as far as I can see serves no purpose other than to invite the defender to kick you in the head. He kind of reminded me of Cristiano Ronaldo, but without the unfortunate overbite.


And the moment you've all been waiting for, the Bad Hair of the Day Award: Today it goes to Internacional midfielder

Having seen off Auckland City in the opening game of the tournament, Al Ahly take on Internacional tomorrow in the first of the semi-final matches. The Egyptians are the only one of the six teams to be appearing in the tournament for the second year in a row; last year they finished dead last, so they've already improved on their record. How will they fare against the Brazilians?

On paper, it looks as if they could give Internacional a real go. Al Ahly are possibly the most consistent team in Africa, having won the league 31 times and the Egyptian Soccer Cup 34 times, not to mention five CAF Champions League wins -- including the past two years running. In contrast, Internacional only won the Copa Libertadores for the first time last year (beating rivals Sao Paulo in the finals in the process). They've also won the state championship roughly a bazillion times, but that's about it -- at least recently. And they've lost some key players since their Copa Libertadores triumph.

Plus, Al Ahly are the home side, which means they'll be wearing their usual red kits -- which means, if you subscribe to my theory that the team with the better kits has an advantage, that they should win. (In this case, better = red. Blue, if you're wondering, is the colour of evil.)

In spite of all that, though, I'm going to pick Internacional as the winners. It's hard to really assess Al Ahly accurately after only seeing their mediocre play on Sunday, but I think it would take a vast improvement in their game for them to progress.

I'm also tipping an Internacional win in hopes of seeing a goal from Renteria, who apparently has become a fan favourite after his rather memorable goal celebration during the Copa Libertadores. You can see it here about one minute in.

For all those of you who are wondering why he's hopping around like a cracked-out Santa: he's imitating the club's mascot, Saci. A character from Brazilian folklore, Saci is a one-legged elf with holes in the palms of his hands, who smokes a pipe and wears a magical red cap that enables him to disappear and reappear wherever he wishes. (And Wikipedia informs me that Saci Pererê is also the name of a Brazilian cocktail made with cachaça and honey, which is said to be good for the common cold. I could use one of those right now.)

Incidentally, while I was out sightseeing today, I ran across a group of Internacional supporters at Senso-ji temple, where you throw coins into the offering box and then pray or make a wish. We'll see if it'll bring their team luck tomorrow...

One game down, six games to go. Our other bloggers have already done a great job of covering what happened in the game between Auckland City and Al Ahly, so instead, some of the things that have stood out for me so far...

Best post-game comment:
"For a small man, he's quite good in the air." -- Auckland coach Allan Jones on Al Ahly's Flavio. (You can all tick off that square on your Press Conference Bingo card now.)

Best nickname:
Jeonbuk's S. J. Jung, who is apparently known as the "eye of the typhoon."

Best backhanded compliment:
"Former substitute grabbed a regular starting role when the team was beset by injury. Contributes to the defence." -- from the media guide profile of Internacional's Wellington Monteiro

Best hair (day 1):
Auckland fullback Jason Hayne, who looks like he dipped a hedgehog in a vat of peroxide and then stuck it on his head. (Look him up on Google images if you don't believe me.)

You'll notice that I didn't mention the actual game there as one of the highlights. That's because it...wasn't. Auckland certainly gave it a go, but they were what one usually refers to as "limited," and Al Ahly seemed to play down to their level. It was 90 minutes of back-and-forth in the middle of the pitch, because as soon as either side got near the other team's penalty area, they seemed to forget how to play football. Either that, or the player with the ball would beat a couple of defenders, have a sudden rush of blood to the head and then try a back-heel to nobody. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm hoping for a better standard of play from tonight's game between Jeonbuk Motors and Club America. Or failing that, that we get to the media centre before they're all out of Coke again.