Al Ahly-Pachuca halftime report (Club World Cup)
Friday, 12 December 08, 11:40 PM · Comments(2)
It appears that Pachuca haven't learned their lesson from last year's Club World Cup appearance. As opposed to last year's quarterfinal match, where the deciding goal that downed the Tuzos came in the closing minutes, the defending CONCACAF champions are looking like a second-rate team that doesn't belong on the same pitch as Al Ahly.
At the halftime intermission, Pachuca trailed 2-0, rendering their domination on ball possesion (64%) meaningless. The way that the Egytian side's first goal that made it 1-0 brought back memories of how Etoile du Sahel scored on the Tuzos a year ago. A counterattack did the job, only to have Fausto Pinto accidentally tap the ball into the back of the net. This clearly exposed Pachuca's inability to cover players that are collectively faster and stronger.
The African champions seized the opportunity to distance themselves from the Mexicans on an impeccable long ball from defender Mohamed Barakat to Flavio, who deftly controlled it with his shin, then defeating Miguel Calero in the 44th minute to increase the advantage to 2-0.
The Tuzos have various options to consider to get back into the contest like Gabriel Caballero and the Brazilian Cristian Correa, a relative unknown who suited up for the Tuzos just for this competition.
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Pauline Elizabeth Sumbland said:being British and a football fan, I always new Corona was the next Gordan Banks...
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DaniAtlas
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Commentary, news and rumors in Latin American fútbol and its players (both on this side of the pond and abroad).
2 Comments · Add yours
i think pachuca has to have a miracle to advance... they are no where near what they were last year
Yeah, some of the key players are older while the younger guys from the team's academy are getting some much-needed international experience.