Sport | Football
Future of African football looks promising
Despite Mazembe losing to Inter, the fact that the team made the final and Eto'o, Kaluyituka won awards, speaks volumes
- By M. Satya Narayan, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:00 December 20, 2010
Africans make their presence felt
Abu Dhabi Inter Milan's 3-0 win over TP Mazembe in Saturday's Fifa Club World Cup final no doubt reflects the fact that there is still a lot of catching up to do for African football, but the Congolese club's ground-breaking progress to the final and Samuel Eto'o and Dioko Kaluyituka winning individual awards does augur well for the continent's future.
If a European Club winning the Club World Cup was no surprise, the loss of South American champions SC Internacional, the first ever Brazilian club to lose in this annual event, was a shock which came at the hands of Mazembe.
Internacional did make up with a facile win to finish on the podium as third-place winners while Korean champions and Asian kings Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma's fourth place was a dip as Pohan Steelers had finished third last year.
Asia's strength
Concacaf champions Pachuca of Mexico were making their third appearance at the Fifa Club World Cup but their display was disappointing and it was thanks to host club Al Wahda frittering away a 2-0 lead that helped the Mexicans finish fifth.
Al Wahda and South Asia's strength were aptly reflected when the UAE League Champions were mauled by South East Asia's Seongnam though the local fans had something to cheer in the opening match.
Al Wahda proved too good for Hekari United, a club that stunned fancied teams from Australia and New Zealand by booking their berth as Oceania Group champions and rubbing shoulders with the world's best. Samuel Eto'o joined the ranks of Kaka, Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi when Fifa's Technical Study Group (TSG) picked the Cameroonian as the Adidas Golden Ball winner.
Centre of action
Eto'o, moved to play on the left by Rafael Benitez to accommodate Diego Milito at the centre, provided passes to three of the six goals scored by Inter and the former Barcelona striker slammed one himself to earn the award.
TP Mazembe's Dioko Kaluyituka and FC Internacional's Andres D'Alessandro were also honoured with the adidas Silver and Bronze Balls respectively, while Inter Milan, who just had one yellow card in their two matches, picked up the Fair Play Award.
Kaluyituka gave both the South American champions Internacional and the European champions Inter Milan, a harrowing time with his penetrative runs and also scored the second goal to sink the Brazilian club in the semifinals.
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