Of course, there was no real need for me to be in the "Mixed Zone", the area where the players meet the press after the match. I speak no Portuguese at all beyond "obrigado", and my Spanish probably prevents me from doing a great deal more than asking Victor Valdes for a two beers and a ham sandwich, por favor. The journalists are split into three areas, TV, photographers, and journalists, and I stood with the journalists, wracked with a fear that one of them would come up to me, expecting me to ask them a question. "So, then Xavi - do you know the way to the railway station?".

The clear difference was in the demeanour of the players. I may not be able to speak any Portuguese, but when Mauricio, our Brazilian, asked their striker Fernandao a question, I don't think any of us were prepared for the length of his answer. As the surrounding hacks started to drift away (and this accelerated upon the emergence of the goal-scorer, Adriano - the majority of people were nudged in his direction by Perdigao standing behind him, shouting, "talk to him! he scored the goal!"), I started to get the fear that I would be left on my own with him, smiling idiotically and shrugging my shoulders. The Barca players were altogether more curt. Eider Gudjohnsen responded to a question about the Champions League draw by saying that he had other things on his mind right now, and Deco, who was apparently seen out boozing and smoking on Friday night, apparently got a bit short with one hack, even though he won a giant key and a Toyota Prius for his goal against Club America.

By contrast, the Internacionale president positively waltzed through the zone, possibly having drunk the lion's share of a couple of bottles of champagne, with a smile the width of the Rio Grande and the trophy in his hands, singing the Inter club song. Given the looks on the faces of Valdes, Gudjohnsen and Deco, I didn't much fancy the idea of hanging round for Ronaldinho. He might start blubbering or something, and that would be unbearable. For some reason, I think he might get very dribbly when he cries.

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.

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.

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.

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...

The competition proper starts today. I'll kick off by apologising for the lack of activity on here yesterday, but the jet lag hit me like a tidal wave, and I was unable to function for most of the day. Today, however, I'm fully recovered and able to post. again, I'm at The Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, and later on I'll be posting up my thoughts on this evening's semi-final between Ahly SC and SC Internacional later on. It is, I have to say, the match that I've been looking forward to the most. Two open, attacking sides, each with plenty of flair players. It promises to be a most absorbing evening.

With two semi-finals coming up, you might be forgiven for thinking that we're approaching some sort of climax here in Japan, but the truth of the matter is that things are only just warming up. With the fifth/sixth and third/fourth place play-offs to follow, we're not even a third of the way through the entire schedule and, in saying this, I'm hitting at the key issue in problems that FIFA have had with the selling of this tournament. At the moment, the World Club Cup is suffering from an image problem. It's kind of understandable, given that none of our teams are taking place, but the silence over this competition from the English press is deafening. The fact of the matter is that the World Club Cup is currently neither fish nor fowl. The set up, with six teams - one from each of the FIFA confederations - taking part is unsatisfactory. But I'm not here to be cynical. As I know that Sepp Blatter religiously reads this blog (who else could all those hits from Geneva be coming from?), I'm going to offer some of my patented brilliant advice on how to make the World Club Cup work.

Now, I don't think that I have to argue that football needs a World Club Championship. It needs it because there is a lot of fantastic football in the world. Europe may think it's the best, and it's certainly (in terms of revenue, if nothing else) the biggest, but that's not really enough, is it? I couldn't give two damns for these lists which show what clubs bring in the most money each year, and how much their overall turnover is. If this is all that matters, they might as well dispense with the football altogether, open up department stores and we can replace the league tables with the FTSE 100 Share Index. Where it counts is on the pitch. Football is a global game, and it needs a global tournament. We have the World Cup, of course, but most of us put our allegiance to our club team before our allegiance to our national team. Our club team is the bread and butter of our existence. We should have a global club tournament so that we can say with a degree of authority who is the best. We don't have that at the moment, because the tournament in it's current format doesn't carry the required weight. If Barcelona lose against Ahly SC or in the final, it won't be the end of their world. They'll return to Catalunya and resume their battle to become the champions of Europe again. The big European clubs have had a fairly dismal record in this competition since it started, so it needs to be changed to bring them onside.

The ideal World Club Cup needs to be played in the summer. There are, it seems to me, tournaments every summer at the moment, but there are still spaces in the calendar which it can be played. If we take it as read that the three big international competitions are the World Cup, the European Championships and the Copa America, then there is a spare summer that can be used. The tournament needs to be bigger. Sixteen teams should be sufficient - five from Europe, four from South America, two from Central and North America, two from Africa, two from Asia and one from Oceania. The tournament should be rotated around the world, rather than kept in one country. Much as I like Japan (and they are doing an excellent job of hosting this tournament), it makes sense for it to be played at times that are convenient for European television audiences. FIFA may need to take a small loss on it for a while too, in order to ensure that the potential earnings from it for the competing teams is high enough for them to sit up and take an interest.

There is no reason why this can't be a success. The world's appetite for football is insatiable. To say that the introduction of a World Club Cup is over-saturation is, frankly, hogwash - the sort put forward by big European clubs who want the Champions League to be the be-all-and-end-all, because they're in prime place at the trough at that tournament. I don't care about them. I want these so-called "big" European clubs to stand up and be counted. I want them to come to tournaments like this one and perform. Being the best in the world should matter them, because it sure as hell matters to the Brazilians - something which is borne out by the previous results on this tournament.

For now, though, we have what we have, and it's great. Of course it is. Whether it's Internacional fans singing themselves hoarse at Schiphol Airport a full five days before their team was due to be involved at all, or Club America's Rojas using a part of his anatomy to score a goal which most coaches and players use merely to speak out of - and I can't help but think that the tournament will start to heat up now. The cynics are missing out.