Chelsea’s glory: 5 things we learned from FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi

The delayed FIFA Club World Cup 2021 finished on Saturday with Chelsea defeating Palmeiras 2-1 in Abu Dhabi to be crowned world champions for the first time, and with Al-Ahly of Egypt finishing third after defeating Saudi’s Al-Hilal 4-0.

Here are five things we learned about the tournament.

  1. Al-Hilal almost spoiled the good work done in the Chelsea game

Losing 4-0 to Al-Ahly in the third and fourth place play-off was a painful experience for Al-Hilal. The only slight positive to take from this game for the Saudi Arabians was that the rest of the world is not that interested in which teams finish third and fourth at the Club World Cup. There is also the fact that the scoreline could have been an awful lot worse given that the Asian champions were three goals and two men down by half-time. 

The frustrating thing was that this had been a good tournament hitherto for the Riyadh giants. The 6-1 thrashing of Al-Jazira in the opening game had been a stunning result at the home of the champions of one of Asia’s biggest and best leagues. They then pushed Chelsea all the way and could easily have taken the game into extra time, and most observers thought they deserved to. Going into Saturday’s “Arab Classico,” Al-Hilal’s reputation overseas had never been higher.

  2. Al-Ahly need to keep Pitso Mosimane

To put it simply, Pitso Mosimane is one of the best coaches around and if he wasn’t African, that would be recognized globally. The South African has performed fantastically since arriving at the club in September 2020. He has delivered two African Champions League titles, two third-place Club World Cup finishes and one league triumph. There would surely have been two but other commitments meant that Al-Ahly were just