Right ho, then. Another truncated version of the "FIFA Anthem", and we're ready to go (and might I briefly register my surprise at the number of hacks that actually stood for it - it represents "all 207 member nations of the FIFA family"), apparently.

7.20: And we're off. Barca must have the toss, because they're in red and blue, and Inter are in their change kit of all white for the second match in a row. The Barca fans here are actually making a bit of noise tonight. It feels like a proper football match.

7.25: A quick after-thought. If any of you have any duck puns you can donate to me, feel free to leave them in the comments. I'm running a bit low here. Also, in an act of daring that, so far as I can see, borders on reckless, Inter are playing three up front.

7.30: If you could permit me a small indulgence here... if there's one thing that annoys me, it's players that walk back from an offside position. Inter were attacking quite nicely there, and themselves into a decent attacking position, but the move broke down because three of their players were offside. Meanwhile, the first corner of the match goes to the Brazilians, who look much sharper than they did during the week. Pato heads well over. he gets top, ahem, "billing" for Internacional this evening.

7.35: Beautiful piece of running from Wellington Monteiro there, carrying the ball forward thirty yards before hopelessly misplacing his pass. You wouldn't have got Tony Adams trying that, you know.

7.39: First real chance of the match for Barcelona. Deco's shot from the edge of the area is parried by Clemer, and Ronaldinho puts the follow-up into the side-netting. In the minute or so after this, Gudjohnsen and Ronaldinho both have penalty claims turned down. Both of them fall into the "I've seen them given for less" category.

7.42: Good chance for Barcelona. Deco gets a bit of space on the right and crosses for Gudjohnsen, but his downward header drops just wide.

7.45: A little bit of pinball in the Internacional penalty area, and the ball falls to Gudjohnsen, who cracks the ball a couple of feet over. Barca are in charge at the moment, but Inter are largely matching them.

7.48: Sudden silence from the crowd, accompanied by a lot of camera flashes as Ronaldinho takes a free-kick from the right hand side of the penalty area, but it's straight down Clemer's throat (not literally, of course - the only person on the pitch who could fit a whole football in his mouth is obviously Ronaldinho).

7.51: Two infuriating moments from Inter inside ten seconds. Firstly, Cardoso, having got himself into an excellent position wide left plays a poor ball across the face of the goal rather than cutting in and trying a shot. Then, following up in the right-hand corner, Fernandao commits a needless foul. Grr.

7.54: Chasing the ball towards the corner flag, Pato loses his footing and slips. You could almost say that he "takes a dive". Moments later, Ronaldinho gets the half inch of space that he needs on the edge of the Inter penalty area, but pulls his shot across the goal and wide.

7.58: Inter create a good chance, with Indio suddenly appearing un-marked on the right hand side of the Barcelona penalty area, but his shot is too high. Inter are sitting deep and trying to hit Barca on the break - a tactic that may prove more successful if they commit more players forward.

8.05: First yellow card of the match to Wellington Monteiro, for booting Ronaldinho up in the air. Cue a thinly disguised snigger from just behind me in the press box.

8.06: Half-time: FC Barcelona 0-0 SC Internacional - A curious first half, all things said. Half chances for both teams, but neither goalkeeper was seriously tested. With the quality of players that are on the pitch at the moment, though, you can hardly say that it's not entertaining stuff.

8.22: Okay. Inter are back out for the second half, but Barca are nowhere to be seen. Maybe they've decided to stay in the changing rooms because it's too cold. I wouldn't blame them if they did. One change for each team - Belletti on for Zambrotta for Barca, and Fabian Vargas on for Alex for Inter.

8.27: Deco crosses for Ronaldinho, but the Alice-banded Brazilian can't quite get high enough to make contact with the ball.

8.31: Someone on the Inter coaching staff has clearly done something to upset the referee, who runs over to their bench making that "now, just CUT IT OUT" signal with his arms.

8.32: Pato shoots well over from the edge of the penalty area, but his shot flies well over. He needs to keep his shots down. Yeah. Sorry about that.

8.34: Yellow card for Puyol, who has a kick at Pato. Ceara shoots well wide for Inter. Let's be generous and say that he was off balance.

8.37: A beautiful ball over the top for Gudjohnsen, who is bundled off the ball on the edge of the Inter penalty area. Much whistling when no foul is given. Seconds later, Iniesta gets a ball in the face at a fairly fierce velocity, but he seems okay. Substitution for Barca - Xavi on for Motta. Deco tries a shot from thirty-five yards, which sails a couple of yards wide.

8.40: Substitution for Internacional. Duck off (!). Pato replaced by Luis Adriano.

8.42: I am, shall we say, surprised and disappointed to note that it has taken me 63 minutes to notice that Fabian Vargas has got a mullet. I'm clearly letting my standards slip here.

8.45. Luis Adriano has got something of the Faustino Asprilla about him, from a distance. By that, I don't mean that he's going to turn up at Darlington and pretend for a couple of weeks that he's going to play for them.

8.50: This has al gone a little bit stale. Inter are doing a pretty job of keeping Ronaldinho quiet, though. They've made their third change, too - the other Adriano is on for... Fernandao.

8.54: Two good chances for Barca in the space of a couple of minutes. A low shot well saved by Clemer, then Deco drives the ball across the six yard box looking for Gudjohnsen, but the ball is stabbed just wide by a defender.

8.59: Two things of note. Firstly, the level of excitement every time Barca get a corner is completely disproportionate to the actual threat that any of them (and they've had a few) have caused. Secondly, the Brazilian commentator behind me is almost apoplectic with excitement.

9.00: GOAL - FC Barcelona 0-1 SC Internacional: Well. Adriano is put through the middle, and calmly lifts the ball over Valdes. The entire Inter bench invades the pitch and, two minutes later, the Brazilian commentator's head seems about to explode with excitement.

9.03: Deco shoots from twenty yards and brings a magnificent one-handed save from Clemer. It doesn't look as if it's going to be their night. They've got six minutes to save it.

9.05: Ronaldinho curls a free kick inches wide of Clemer's right hand post. That would have been top corner if it had been Aboutrika.

9.07: A last throw of the dice for Barca. Gudjohnsen off for Ezquerro.

9.09: Three minutes injury time. Adriano boots the ball into a group of Inter fans. They won't be getting that ball back any time soon.

9.12: One final chance for Barca. Ronaldinho chips the ball through to Deco, who clatters into Clemer but can't get to the ball.

9.13: FULL TIME - FC Barcelona 0-1 SC Internacional: Fair play to Inter. They sat back and absorbed the Barcelona, and hit them on the break. There's no question that this was their game plan, and it worked. Whether they're really the best team in the world is seriously open to question (and it's a question that can only really be answered by FIFA opening up this competition), but they came here tonight with one thing in mind, and there's no doubt that they were successful.

The Awards Ceremony: I'll say this much: Barca could have scarcely got more excited than Inter have at winning had the result been reversed. Now, here's something that fair takes your breath away - I go off for a cigarette, and by the time I get back a complete podium has been built and Sepp Blatter is walking onto the pitch with the FIFA Anthem blaring out over the stadium PA at about 200 decibels. I think we may be supposed to stand and salute or something.

In the space of that five minutes, the stadium has also more or less emptied. There are three awards for the goal of the tournament. The bronze ball goes to Ronaldinho, the silver to Iarley, and the gold to Deco. He wins a giant key with "TOYOTA" printed on the side of it. I'm sure he's delighted. The Player Of The Tournament award goes, somewhat surprisingly to... Motta. Motta? I think I must have mis-heard this.

Internacional look thrilled to bits with their trophy. The podium, in case you were wondering, looks as if it was made by Claire's Accessories. For the third time in a row, the best club side in the world are Brazilian... and most of their best players are playing in Europe. It's frightening, if you think about it. Confetti, smoke and fireworks everywhere.

That's about it for this post. I'm off to the "mixed zone", to see if I can get a few words out of Ronaldinho on the subject of his Alice band. I'll be back shortly to give you my final thoughts on a quite extraordinary week in about an hour or so.

Just a quickie, before we get onto the serious business of the match ahead. First of all, the team news. Barca are unchanged from the team that demolished Club America on Thursday evenings, so: Valdes, Motta, Marquez, Puyol, Gudjohnsen, Giuly, Ronaldinho, Zambrotta, Van Bronckhorst, Deco, Iniesta. For Inter, Pato, The Duck, plays. Quacking news. He was excellent against Ahly the other day. Just the one change for them, so they line up as follows: Clemer, Ceara, Indio, Fabiano Eller, Wellington Monteiro, alex, Edinho, Fernandao, Iarley, Alexndre Pato, Rubens Cardoso.

While I've been typing this, six large, multi-coloured balls have been brought out onto the pitch, with one bigger one, with Earth printed on it. Suddenly, there are laser lights everywhere, and a Japanese band called The Chemistry are in front of us, all wearing coats (bar one member who is, possibly foolhardily, wearing an Inter shirt) performing "On Top Of The World", the Tournament Anthem, it says here. It's a jaunty, upbeat Europop number, as if you needed telling. In the mean time, the over-sized have been re-arranged into a distinctly phallic shape. I hope to God that they don't shoot fireworks out of the Arctic Circle, if you see what I mean. Time enough, I think, for a quick cigarette, then on with the game. Prediction? 2-0 Barcelona.

Well. WELL. It's 4.15, and time for the first match of the afternoon. Ahly SC vs Club America. Sepp Blatter's out there, wearing what looks like a VERY expensive cashmere coat, and I think he's about to give a speech. It's okay, though, because I've got my headphones on, and I'm going to drown him out by listening to "The Boys In The Old Brighton Blue".

4.17: They've just asked us to stand for the "FIFA Anthem". Oh, the boooys in the ooold Brighton Bluuuueeeeee. Actually, it's not that bad. Largely because they fade it out after about 15 seconds. Team news! neither Blanco nor Lopez are starting for Club America. Regarding Blanco, this comes as no great surprise. Lopez as well, though? He must have picked up an injury. For Ahly, the goalkeeper El Hadary is injured, so Abdelhamid starts instead.

4.22: There are a lot of empty seats, but FIFA have pulled a pretty neat trick here, by only selling tickets for both matches. This means that, although there can't be more than 20,000 in here for this match, they can still announce the official attendance as 72,000.

4.25: First chance to Ahly. Neat inter-play on the edge of the penalty area, but the shot from Shawky is charged down. Away to my left, I can clearly hear about 20 voices with English accents singing "Come on you reds". It's all Ahly at the moment.

4.28: I'm listening to "Ossie's Dream" now. Do you think Keith Burkinshaw ever was a general in the army? As you may have guessed, it's all a bit lethargic out there at the moment.

4.35: Ahly's goalkeeper is down injured. If he can't continue, then they have got a third one that they can bring in. There are a lot of concerned faces, and he's taking an age to get up again. When he finally does, one of his defenders takes the goal kick for him: the universal sign of the Goalkeeper In Distress.

4.38: Fabiano Pereira wastes a good opportunity for CA. His shot is charged down by the stricken Ahly goalkeeper. Pereira goes down like a sack of spuds on the follow up tackle, but the referee isn't having any of it.

4.41: CA have picked up the pace a little bit now, but they're missing the extra spark that Lopez gave them up front. At the other end, Ashour shoots a couple of feet over for Ahly from twenty yards out.

4.50: Is it too early to start drinking yet? This is just dire. Really miserable stuff from two teams that, I think, would really rather not be here today.

4.55: There's no extra-time tonight, by the way. Because of the time constrictions brought about by having a second match kick off an hour and a quarter after this one is scheduled to finish, it'll be straight to penalties at 90 ninety minutes. On this display, I think that most people would be happy if it went to penalties now.

5.00: Forty minutes played, and both teams have had a shot on goal each. The only thing that I could think of that would liven proceedings up at the moment would be an angry bear. And it would have to be pretty damn angry.

5.02: GOAL: Ahly SC 1-0 Club America - A delightful twenty-five yard curling free-kick from Mohammed Aboutrika, over the wall, wide of the goalkeeper's dive and into the corner. He did exactly the same against Auckland City.

5.06: Ahly deserve this because, despite their obvious limitations, they at least want it. Club America just look as if they can't really be bothered. They've just put together about 20 consecutive
passes, but the final ball was poor. And that's it for this half. 1-0 Ahly, who have been the better of two pretty bad teams. More to follow in fifteen minutes. Let's hope it's not more of the same.

5.30: Oops! I appear to have missed the first five minutes of the second half. That's what I get for joining the world's longest queue to try and get a drink at half-time. Some things are just like home.

5.32: First real chance of the second half (as far as I know) to CA. Cuevas gets away down the left, and forces a good save from Abdelhamid.

5.34: CA are turning the screw a bit, and their supporters are starting to make a bit more noise, now. Abdelhamid saves well again - this time from a free-kick along the ground from someone. A minute or so later, Castro's cross is deflected onto the back of the crossbar and away for a corner.

5.37: GOAL - Ahly SC 1-1 Club America: A fine run down the right wing from Blanco (who came on at half-time), who's cross is headed in by Salvador Cabanas. Behind me, the Mexican commentator is singing, "Vamos, vamos America".

5.42: Against a team like this, Blanco, although slightly out of shape, still looks like a class act. His vision is outstanding, and he still has just enough pace to be able to give the Ahly defenders a run for their money.

5.46: Expectation levels rise another notch. Claudio Lopez has come for Club America.. Ahly are having the better of the play at the moment, though. A good corner is flicked on at the near post and requires an excellent clearance by Vuono, though the reaction of the Ahly bench suggests that they though that he used his arm.

5.54: It's all gone quiet here again, I'm afraid. We are only fourteen minutes away from a penalty shoot-out, though, which I'm moderately excited about.

5.55: A long ball over the top, and Claudio Lopez springs the offside trap, but can't connect with it, and Abdelhamid gathers it, at the the second attempt.

5.58: GOAL - Ahly 2-1 Club America: A very simple goal for Ahly. Flavio's pass along the ground is met by Aboutrika, who needs only one touch to roll the ball into the corner of the net. A little harsh on CA, considering the way things have been going in the second half. Aboutrika is the tournament's top scorer with three goals now.

6.00: Almost straight the kick-off, CA have a chance to draw level. The ball is drifted across the penalty area towards Claudio Lopez, who attempts a deft flick, but succeeds only in missing the ball and allowing it to run through to (a doubtlessly relieved) Amir Abdelhamid.

6.07: Two minutes plus stoppage time for CA to rescue it. A decent cross from the left, but Lopez (again!) can't quite get on the end of the ball.

6.10: Aboutrika has a chance to finish it off and claim his hat-trick, but his lob falls wide of the post.

FULL-TIME: Ahly 2-1 Club America - The impressive Mohammed Aboutrika was the clear difference between the two sides. The announcer is telling us that we should stay seated for the medal ceremony, but most people are already drifting away to get refreshments before the main event. Me? I'm off to try and find some loopy Brazilian fans before the Barca-Inter match. Back in an hour!

In spite of a moment of minor panic on the train out of Tokyo, we made it to Yokohama in one piece. It's finals day, no less, so there are two matches being played on this final day of the World Club Cup, with Ahly SC taking on Club America for third place before the main event - Barcelona vs Internacional. To my considerable surprise, they're not even showing the final live here, and I can't even find a listing for it on the radio. As I write this, Sepp Blatter is sitting in a conference room (he's got more of a tan than I remember him having, and it looks to me rather as if he has put on a few pounds as well). Sadly (or otherwise), the English language television is belting out all of his answers in Japanese... Damn. They've turned it over, and now I can hear EVERY WORD OF WHAT HE HAS TO SAY.

So, time enough to let you know what I will be up to today. I'm off for a wander in a moment, and will be back at 4.00 local time with a preamble for today's two live matches. Some of you may be wondering whether I've footballed myself out this week, and I can only answer that question by saying that I was up at 1.30 this morning watching Arsenal claw a point back against Harry Redknapp's woefully dour Portsmouth team. That Matthew Taylor is destined for better things than that lot, I can tell you. The two matches are Ahly SC vs Club America, which kicks at 7.20 GMT, and Barcelona vs Internacional, which kicks off at 10.20 GMT. It would be lovely to see you here for either or both of these matches.

For the record, the tide of certainty that Barca are going to win handsomely this evening has been turning, somewhat, A repeat viewing of Barca's win on Thursday night has demonstrated that they were rather handed the victory by a woeful performance from Club America. Combine this with the fact that everybody was surprised at how poor Internacional were against Ahly SC in their semi-final match (the widespread rumour is that they got quite a telling off afterwards, and rightly so), and we could be in for a much tighter game that many may expect. Having said that, though, one would be a fool to bet against Barca this evening, such is the wealth of talent that they have at their disposal. I'm also, for the record, backing Ahly to beat Club America this afternoon. Ahly have been a tidy team so far, and were slightly unlucky to get knocked out by Internacionale. CA seem to still be suffering from the hangover that has been afflicting them since their recent Mexican League play-off defeat by Chivas of Guadalajara. Blanc and Lopez, the main men, have looked out of sorts, and I just don't think they've got what it takes to win this one. Could be a tight match, though.

Right: I'm off to have a wander around and compose some words for "The Star Spangled Blatter", and I'll be back later on. All I need is a microphone and a blank CD, and I could leave my mark on this tournament before the action even starts.

Well, we weren't the only people here tonight. In fact, there were 23,000 other hardy souls here, that had braved the cold Tokyo night and we were rewarded with... not a bad game, actually, and a 3-0 win for Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors that confirms them as the fifth best team in the world. If you have a problem with that, you should probably take the matter up with FIFA rather than with me.

This evening, it was a win for the away side. South Korea may be closer to Tokyo than New Zealand geographically, but a mixture of the usual animosity towards the Japanese towards all things Korean and the opportunistic Auckland signing of former Japanese international Teru Iwamoto ensured that the crowd here were honorary Kiwis for the evening. The win was, in truth, a slightly flattering one for JHM. Had Auckland taken the chances that did fall their way, the result could have been very different. They certainly started the better of the two teams, with Mulrooney shooting just wide after collecting a cross from the impressive Grant Young on five minutes, and Young himself shooting to bring out a decent catch out of JHM goalkeeper Sun Tae Kwoun after twelve minutes.

Soon enough, though, the barometer began to swing in the opposite direction, and on sixteen minutes JHM took the lead. A lovely feint from Hyun Seung Lee enabled a one-two with Hyeung Bum Kim, and he shot low into the corner of the net from the angle of the penalty area. Now settled, JHM pressed forward with the intention of killing the match stone dead. Kim, who was the best player on the pitch, pulled a shot across the face of goal a few minutes later, and just after an hour in, they doubled their advantage when Kim fired a tremendous shot into the corner of the net from twenty-five yards out.

Auckland had chances to get back into the game, but were denied through a mixture of bad luck and poor finishing. Just before half-time, they were denied a penalty when Young seemed to be tripped inside the penalty area, but the key moment came ten minutes into the second half, when Young got passed his man again and sent a perfect low ball across the six yard area. Bryan Little came charging in and should have scored, but made a complete hash of his shot and the ball rolled harmlessly wide. From then on, there was only one team that were going to finish on top, as the differences in fitness and technical ability started to show. Zecarlo had a low shot well saved by the Auckland goalkeeper Nicholson, and then on seventy-two minutes, another excellent run by Kim was ended with a clattering foul. In spite of the best attempts of the crowd (enthusiastically egged on by the Auckland players), Zecarlo stepped up to put the result beyond any reasonable doubt. There was still time for for excitement for the Japanese crowd, though, as Iwamoto came off the bench to thunderous applause. A couple of minutes after his introduction, he nearly scored with a long range shot that went just wide.

Of course, it was an entertaining evening of football. I've long been a believer that you don't need the likes of Barcelona and Chelsea (especially not Chelsea) to have a great match. Auckland, to my considerable disappointment, didn't even manage a goal in their two matches here, but the long term benefits are tangible. Likely to be back next year, they can surely expect increased attention at home - but can they avoid the temptation of increased competition in the Asia-affiliated A-League? For JHM, there are no such quandaries. It's back to the K-League, and the Asian Nations Cup. Given the somewhat fortuitous way in which they qualified for it in the first place (as you may recall, they were the Korean FA Cup winners rather than K-League champions), we may not be seeing them back here in the immediate future.

After all the excitement of Barcelona's magnificent performance against Club America last night, it's almost crashing back to earth that we're back in the Olympic Stadium for Auckland City against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors this evening. I don't mean this as a slight against either of these fine sporting establishments. The Olympic Stadium is easily the least loveable of the venues that we have visited over the last five days (in my humble opinion, football stadia with athletics tracks around them should be treated with the sort of disdain usually reserved for reality TV show stars), and it's Friday night - usually a time for excessive boozing and making a fool of myself at home in Brighton. Still, I managed to walk here on my own in good time (I'm counting this as a major achievement, considering that I can still read no Japanese whatsoever and my spoken vocabulary has only expanded to four words), and I'm nice and settled in the Media Centre here, having spent the afternoon looking at shiny things in a frankly bewildering electronics store in Shibuya this afternoon.

So, what to make of this evening's match? Well, first things first: Jeonbuk were somewhat unfortunate to be beaten by Club America in their quarter-final match. They started extremely positively, and it was only a lack of imagination going forward that prevented them from seeing off the Mexicans. It's probably fair to say that they won't need to find such inspiration against the New Zealanders, who struggled to do anything of note against Ahly SC, and were eventually seen off fairly comfortably. As has been noted on here before, though, Jeonbuk seem to have a singularly characterless team. They are the only team of the six that I would still be able to name a player from and, whilst their work ethic and technique are first rate, they lack any sort of attacking spark. Hopefully, with the pressure off tonight, they will loosen their tactical straitjacket and show us what they're capable of.

Auckland City worked hard against Ahly SC, but their defeat was as deserved as it was expected. An excellent performance from Jonathan Perry pegged Ahly back until five minutes into the second half, though it is worth remembering that, had the Egyptians not been extremely wasteful in the first half, the match might have been over by half-time. I don't personally like the notion that any team in any competition are there to "make up the numbers", but the situation regarding their involvement shows the slightly farcical turn that football has taken in this part of the world. Australia withdrew from the Oceania Football Confederation to join the Asian Football Confederation, reckoning that the increased competition at national level would help their chances of development on the pitch. This has meant that the Australian clubs are now treated as Asian, and can't qualify to represent the OFC. The New Zealand Knights may be falling off the bottom of the A-League (a subject that has already been covered on here), but they are still the best team in New Zealand. Auckland's qualification was almost by default. To get here, they beat teams from Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Papua New Guinea. I don't mean to sound rude here, but FIFA have to address this issue before next year's tournament.

The answer, as I've said before, is to expand it. The World Club Cup can absorb one or two teams of this size in a sixteen club tournament, but there's nowhere to hide in a six club competition. Auckland were terrific against Ahly, don't get me wrong. They played their hearts out and will certainly have gained massively from the experience of coming here and the increased exposure that they have received from it, but the question of whether they should be here at all is a completely different one. I certainly wish them good luck tonight. This tournament could do with a surprise or two.

I don't know. Maybe Barca fans are just used to this sort of thing, week in week out. On this sort of showing, though, there surely can be no stopping them in the final of the World Club Cup on Sunday and, as I said below, Inter must be absolutely cacking themselves at the thought if having to line up against this lot in just three days time. Not, of course, that you'd have had the slightest inkling of any of this if you'd just got to the stadium in time for Frank Rijkaard's post-match press conference. Now, here's a man that talks a lot, and says very little. Here's a couple of sample comments for you: "Our changing room is filled with positive energy and everyone is working towards the same goal". "We have a disadvantage in the final through Inter having been out here longer than us". "We are not afraid of anyone, but Inter come from the country where football was born". You'd think that his team had just scrambled a goalless draw on a wet Sunday night in La Coruna rather than that his team had just utterly outplayed the opposition in the semi-finals of the World Club Championship. Truly, he is a master of understatement.

Let's take a look at those three quotes again. Maybe something was lost in the translation, but all of them, I think, deserve closer inspection. "Our changing room is filled with positive energy and everyone is working towards the same goal". Well, one would hope so. If you can't be positive after a 4-0 win in a cup semi-final, when can you be? The same goes for "working towards the same goal". I'm struggling to see what alternative there could be, here, unless Deco and Ronaldinho are in direct competition to see who can pull off the most outrageous piece of skill ever seen on a football pitch. "We are not afraid of anyone, but Inter come from the country where football was born". Well, for one thing, I would take issue with Brazil being the country of football's birth, obviously (point taken, Frankie, but the game was well into its adolescence before the Brazilians got completely involved), but also... "not afraid"? Really? A wealth of talent that borders on the obscene, and they're not afraid of anyone? I'd sack their psychologist if they were. Finally: "We have a disadvantage in the final through Inter having been out here longer than us". Ah, the old favourite. Making out that the other team have an enormous advantage because they've been here for forty-eight hours longer than you. An almost Ronaldinho-esque body swerve there from Frank. If they lose on Sunday... it's all the fault of jet lag! We were tired! Well, I'm not buying that. Not that I think that such an excuse will be necessary. Inter looked out of sorts last night, and I'd be unsurprised if Barca did the sort of damage to them that they did to Club America this evening.

Of course, football being football, this could all come back to bite me on the backside on Sunday night. Barca's players could all fall asleep on the pitch here through jet lag, allowing Inter a chance to at least take the match to extra-time. On the basis of what I've seen so far, though, the others should make the most of the free time between now and the final, because Sunday night seems likely to be the Ronaldinho and Deco Show.

We're in Yokohama this evening for Barcelona vs Club America. The Japanese fans are really out in force this evening, and they're all supporting Barca. It's going to be a home match for them this evening. The arrival of the Catalans in Japan has caused more excitement than I thought it might. The hacks are all here this evening, and my excitement has reached fever pitch by spotting former Anglia TV commentator Gerry Harrison sitting not ten yards away from me. I might go over and ask him whether he remembers when my junior school knitted the world's longest football scarf and paraded it on the pitch at Kenilworth Road before a match between Luton Town and West Bromwich Albion that he was covering in 1983. How could he conceivably have forgotten that?

By half-time this evening, we'll have reached the halfway point in the competition, so I thought that now would be a good time to stop and have a look back over the last few days. What have I learnt since I've been in Japan? Perhaps surprisingly, I think I've actually learnt a lot. This is obviously a very good thing. My candidacy for a post with FIFA was already strong, but I feel that I'm at the point now of being able to launch an almost completely watertight case for a place amongst the game's great and good. So, let's have a look back and see what I've learnt.

1. Playing matches in a stadium with the roof on it when it's half empty is a really bad idea. Everything echoes too much, and it ends up sounding like it's being played in a car park. I'm not a fan of keeping the roof on ever, but this is really beyond the pale.

2. The current format of the World Club Cup is flawed. Sorry, but there is just so much room for improvement here. Even if it was two groups of three with the Europeans and South Americans playing as group seeds, this would be better than what we have now.

3. The music that is played while the teams line up before kick-off is terrible. Awful. FIFA should have it's own anthem, with words and everything that everyone has to sing before these matches. Something like "God Save The Sepp", perhaps. Or "The Star Spangled Blatter".

4. There aren't as many "duck" puns as I had originally thought there would be. I've got three days left to think of some more, and I can't help but think that I've already used by best ones.

5. Japanese fans care about the Premiership and nothing else. On Saturday night, I sat up and watched the Manchester derby and Liverpool vs Fulham. Not even the most cursory of glances was made towards the Football League. The Japanese must wonder where the promoted sides come from.

6. Gerry Harrison is much, much taller than I thought he would be.

7. No-one wants press conferences. The managers and coaches don't, and respond by spouting out the most banal things that they can think of. The press aren't interested in what they have to say, and often don't even ask questions at all (sample "question" from the press conference after last night's match between Internacional and Ahly SC to the Ahly coach from an Egyptian journalist: "You presented Egyptian football very well. We are very proud of you.".

8. Whether this competition is a success or not will be judged almost entirely on whether Ronaldinho plays. Some of the people around here are so excited that they're almost weeing themselves.

9. The Brazilian fans are complete and utter mentalists. Their almost deranged devotion to their club is almost infectious. They are, on their own, worth the admission fee. And they are all massively, massively drunk.

10. The "smaller" clubs are massively unhappy with the format of this tournament. Here are the Ahly SC coach's thoughts on the matter from after last night's match: "The competition is not fair, giving a seeded place to the Brazilian team. Maybe we have to have a fairer system. Maybe it is always set so that the European and American teams get to the final. It would be more interesting if everyone was drawn equally, and would be fairer to the other continents. It is important, though, for the organisers to think of the money."." Harsh words.

Right then. There's just over an hour to kick-off this evening and, due to the fact that we apparently have internet connections at our desks inside the stadium this evening, I'm planning a live commentary from inside the bowels of the Nissan Stadium here in Yokohama. It would be lovely to see you there. Otherwise, my noodlings will be up here later on.

So, Inter vs Ahly SC tonight. Inter should win this comfortably tonight, but they'd be foolish to treat it as a training match.In spite of their somewhat insipid performance against Auckland City, they're a decent team.

7.10: A really disappointing turnout from the locals this evening. Ten minutes to kick-off, and there are vast swathes of empty seats opposite us. The Inter supporters are magnificent. My Brazilian colleague points out that their song about Ahly is something about them bring "terrorists". Pato, the so-called "Duck", who is being labelled as the next great Brazilian hope, is in the starting eleven.

7.15: The teams are out on the pitch. Suggestion to FIFA: rather than his terrible song that plays at full volume while the TV cameras pan along the team line-ups, why not have them sing their club song? I'd pay good money to see Spurs players belting out Chas & Dave before their next UEFA Cup match.

7.20: Kick-off. The early exchanges are going Inter's way. Wellington Monteiro shoots horribly wide from about forty yards.

7.25: The referee incurs the wrath of the Inter support to over-rule his linesman and give a throw in to Ahly. It's going to be that sort of night.

7.30: Suddenly, excitement! A deep cross is turned across goal by Pato and Iarley heads the ball in. Unfortunately, they're both about twenty yards offside. More whistling from the Inter fans and, I daresay, questions in Portuguese regarding his parentage. Seconds later, Iarley is put through again but shoots over. Offside again, though. It's starting to look a little one-sided already.

7.35: Ceara crosses from deep, and Pato heads over. Pato looks as if he may be wearing a body-warmer under his shirt.

7.38: A long shot from Ceara skids just wide and hits the stanchion behind the goal. At the moment, this looks like a team of seasoned professionals playing against a technically efficient youth team. They look bigger, stronger and more confident.

7.43: GOAL! Inter 1-0 Ahly - Inter look to have squandered a chance when Pato mis-controls a beautiful pass from midfield, but the ball runs loose and an Ahly player sliding into a tackle gives it straight back to him. Scarcely able to believe his good luck, The Duck quacks the ball into the bottom corner of the net. No less than they deserve.

7.50: A chance from out of nothing for Ahly. The infuriating Flavio suddenly finds himself in space inside the Inter penalty area but, as he did a couple of times against Auckland, wraps his foot right round the ball. Ahly are getting into some decent positions, but their delivery is appalling.

7.55: Ahly nearly equalise. A terrific thirty-yard free-kick from El Nahas is heading for the top corner, but Clemer tips it over brilliantly. A couple of minutes later, Aboutrika shoots from twelve yards after Inter have failed to clear an Ahly attack, and hits the post. Inter have taken their foot off the pedal too much since they scored, and they're going to get punished at this rate.
8.05: Half-time: Inter 1-0 Ahly SC. Harsh on Ahly, considering the way they got themselves back into the match after going one down. Right on half-time, they have another great chance, but Shawky attempts a bicycle kick rather than something sensible and the ball flies over.

8.20: Without me even having noticed, the stadium has filled up quite nicely. There has been a lot of grumbling amongst the Inter supporters at half-time. Ahly are out first: I daresay that Inter were getting a bit of a rollocking during the break.

8.25: The fourth officials have their own dug-out, which is wheeled out to the side of the pitch at the start of each half. They're not in it when it's wheeled out, though. It would provide a nice Davros out of Dr Who-type effect if they were.

8.31: GOAL! Inter 1-1 Ahly - An equaliser for Ahly, and it has been coming. Tarek Said crosses from the left and Flavio, completely unmarked, heads over Clemer. This evening's crowd is announced as 33,690. Looks like more to me, but what would I know?

8.35: Inter have raised their game since the goal, but Ahly look sharper and more confident at the moment. Too close to call.

8.40: Break out the plum sauce, because the duck is lame. Lame duck - geddit? Never mind. It looks like a bout of cramp, but they've taken him off anyway.

8.45: Everything is starting to fall apart on the pitch. Passes going astray all over the place. Ahly haven't capitalised on getting back into the match, and Inter are shooting wildly over every time they get within thirty yards of the Ahly goal.

8.48: GOAL! Inter 2-1 Ahly - Luiz Adriano has only been on for several minutes, but he heads into an unguarded net from a corner. Terrible, terrible marking from Ahly. He could have declared area surrounding him an independent republic. The singing and dancing has started in the stand in front of me again.

8.55: Ahly have made two changes, but their goalkeeper has gone down injured twice now. Iy doesn't look as he's going to be able to carry on. Curiously, they take him off the pitch on a stretcher before his replacement comes on. Cue the worst Mexican Wave I've ever seen.

9.00: The tempo has slowed again, and I can't see where an Ahly goal is coming from at the moment. If anything, Inter look more likely to add a third.

9.07: Inter are playing out time now. Ahly don't look as if they've got much in the tank left to give, either. Five miuntes added time, though, so plenty of time.

9.10: A late chance for Inter to seal it, when Fernandao, who has had a quiet evening, gets clear, but the shot is blocked. From the corner, the Inter players claim a penalty for holding, but the refere says no.

9.12: FULL TIME: Inter 2-1 Ahly SC. Ahly can, I think, consider themselves somewhat unfortunate. They came back after a very strong start from Inter, who failed to impose themselves on the game after they took the lead. Inter are going to have to raise their game for the final, but that can wait for a little while: Barca arrive in town tomorrow.

An very long walk through the bowels of The Olympic Stadium took me up to the concourse where the Internacional supporters had congregated and, never having seen Brazilian supporters in the flesh before, nothing could have prepared for the noise and enthusiasm that they have brought to this competition. Never mind that it's raining in Tokyo this evening. The sun was shining on these people - and everybody, even this dishevelled Cockney was invited. Maria and Julio (left) had travelled from Porto Alegre earlier in the week. Were they confident of winning tonight? In extremely broken English (and after having mistaken me for a Frenchman), Maria explained, "we will win today by four... no, five... no ten!". Such confidence! I have no idea whether this rubs off on the players or not, but it can't do any harm.

The truly noticeable thing about them was how much they'd drunk, and how little trouble they were going to cause. The girls at the food and drink stalls were being inundated with all manner of propositions, ranging from the innocent to the frankly indecent, but seemed to be taking it in the spirit in which it was meant. One of the Brazilians, with a red curly wig was mouthing "I love you" to a particularly bemused looking Japanese girl. He turned to me and said mournfully, "I don't think she understands English".

It's easy to see how the Brazilian fans win people over so easily. They're a tornado of noise, colour and singing. It's almost irresistible. You feel the urge to put down whatever it is that you're carrying, paint your face yellow and blue, grab a couple of beers, and join in. The tournament is all the richer for them being here. I wouldn't to get on the wrong side of them when they're angry, though...