Key events
68 min Paulinho has a shot blocked after cutting inside from the left. That’s their 13th attempt to Botafogo’s three. Botafogo are hanging on grimly for extra time, maybe penalties.
66 min: Double substitution for Botafogo Cuiabano and Alvaro Montoro come on for Alex Telles and Allan.
65 min Artur is booked for a tactical foul on Allan of Palmeiras.
63 min: Double substitution for Palmeiras Paulinho and Luighi replace Estevao and Mr Roque. It’s a hot day.
60 min: Chance for Palmeiras An up-and-under is punched away by John, but only as far as Mauricio 25 yards out. He chests the ball down and drives a left-foot shot that is comfortably saved by John.
In other news.
59 min It’s all Palmeiras now. A cross from the right is only half cleared, allowing Roque to throw himself into a scissor kick that hits the defender on the six-yard line.
57 min “With Palmeiras’ mascot being a pig and their playing style built around a robust defence,” says Peter Oh, and goodness knows where this is going, “you’ll forgive me for predicting that the team from São Paulo is bound to pork the bus.”
The pedant in me is obliged oint out that it’s Botafogo who have parked the bus, not Palmeiras. But the part of me that is still trying to enjoy life can’t resist such an amusingly absurd pun.
55 min This has been one of those games in which Team A is better in almost every department without creating any gilt-edged chances. It means the scoreline is simultaneously a) a scandal and b) kinda fair.
54 min Roque’s square ball to Estevao on the edge of the area is cut out. The ball comes back to Roque, whose drive is brilliantly blocked by the sliding Cunha (I think).
51 min “Igor Jesus has got to be a contender for best name of the tournament?!” says Kate. “Creates quite the mental image.”
The mind boggles.
50 min Estevao has a goal disallowed for offside. It was the right decision, though play was allowed to continue for a little while. Estevao’s first shot was deflected and saved by John. The ball came back to Estevao, at which point the flag went up for the earlier offside and the referee blew his whistle.
Estevao played on, hitting a follow-up that slithered under John and into the net. But it wouldn’t have counted even if he had been onside when he received the ball.
49 min At the other end, Savarino’s long-range shot is comfortably held by Weverton.
48 min On reflection, Estevao’s curler, well struck though it was, wouldn’t have gone right in the corner and it was a relatively comfortable save for John.
John.
47 min: Fine save by John! Palmeiras win the ball high up the field for the umpteenth time. Allan feeds an early pass into Estevao on the edge of the D; he takes a touch and whacks a curling shot towards the bottom corner. John dives top his right to push it behind. That’s the best save of the game to date.
47 min “So ADHD, ASD and now an admitted sociopath,” begins Geoff Wignall. “If you could only rid yourself of that inner empath, a career in politics could be yours (but ditch the sense of irony or concern for fair play, too).”
I’d certainly shake up PMQs. Mr Speaker, please could you ask the honourable gentleman whether he can name the XI that started the Italia 90 group game against Egypt. And if not, does he really think he is fit to run this country?
46 min No substitutions on either side as Botafogo begin the second half. Palmeiras win the ball and Roque shoots over from distance within 20 seconds.
“As a Brazilian who has lived in the UK for many years, I find all the Europeans commenting on the futility and uselessness of covering this fixture extremely comical, if not absurd,” writes Marcos. “I don’t care about any amount of fixtures that are covered by MBMs on this publication (for example, something like Man United vs. Colchester in the FA Cup), but I don’t complain about it, because I understand that there are indeed many people who do care and who will read it and enjoy it. That is the nature of journalism.
“In Brazil this fixture is absolutely massive. Right now I’m with family, all dressed up in our vibrant green kits, most from the previous century. Europeans don’t understand the gravitas that the Club World Cup has in South America. Yes, it’s a money-spinning attraction invented by Gianni. But this competition is judged to be one of the most important competitions a club can win, so much so that Palmeiras fans regularly get criticised for failing to win one (amidst constant debate on whether the 1951 Copa Rio counts: Palmeiras fans think it does, the rest think it doesn’t).
I won’t go on about the Eurocentric bias in football or the way that Europeans genuinely look down on football from other leagues, but I will say that watching Flamengo put three past Chelsea and seeing all the Englishmen wildly try to invent excuses to justify it made me smile.”
It does feel like modern society has become aggressively intolerant of just about everything. Last night – this isn’t a joke – some guy had a go at me for spraying deodorant. I deliberately did it away from the footpath, so that it wouldn’t impact anyone else’s snout, but the mere sight of a devastatingly handsome quadragenarian attending to his body odour was too much for the guy.
Half-time reading
Leander did work experience in the London office many moons ago. It was obvious even then that he could make it, and it’s great to see him doing – and writing – so well.
Half time: Palmeiras 0-0 Botafogo
A scrappy, goalless first half in Philadelphia. Palmeiras were the better team, with and without the ball, but it has hardly been an xGfest: 0.51-0.07 according to Flashscore.
We might need an Expected Red Cards algorithm at some stage – three players were bookeds, but it could easily have been at least twice that.
Just over from Rios!
45+5 min That was a lovely effort. He received a square pass 22 yards from goal, pushed it forward with his first touch and whipped a fierce shot that brushed the roof of the net.
Did the Botafogo keeper John get a touch? A corner has been given; I think, on reflection, that it took a nick off a defender.
45+3 min Mauricio almost puts Estevao through on goal with a sharp angled pass, but the Botafogo centre-back Cunha is well positioned and makes a vital interception on the edge of the area.
45 min Six minutes of added time to be played. A lovely move down the right from Botafogo ends with Vitinho’s cutback being turned behind for a corner by Piquerez.
43 min Freitas barrels through the inside-right channel, benefits from a couple of ricochets and suddenly finds himself in the penalty area. It’s not his natural habitat and he drags a cross-shot tamely across goal.
42 min Rios turns elegantly away from Freitas, who isn’t having that and sends him flying. A cynical foul, surely worthy of a yellow card; the referee disagrees.
39 min Gomez wipes out Allan (Botafogo) with a wretched tackle. The referee plays the advantage and eventually goes back to book Gomez, who has the effrontery to wag his finger righteously in the referee’s face.
Gomez will miss the quarter-final if Palmeiras get there.
38 min Roque again pursues an apparently lost cause, this time to win a corner for Palmeiras on the right. It’s curled deep, headed up in the air and fumbled by John – but only after he was fouled by Fuchs. The ball went wide anyway.
37 min “Your inner sociopath is allowed to feel jaded with these Fifa tournaments which, let’s face it, are all about making a killing,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “It’s the people who actually care about it that I worry about. I think of it as a summer methadone clinic for football junkies.”
So what does that make Premier League Summer Series, or the Makita International Tournament? Actually, I’m not sure I want to know.
35 min Telles fouls Mauricio needlessly near the corner flag, then gives the assistant referee a mouthful and is booked.
34 min Estevao is in loads of space in the inside-left channel but the long pass towards him (not sure who played it) is badly overhit.
At the other end, Savarino thrashes a half-volley wide from 25 yards.
33 min Play hath resumed.
31 min: Cooling break It’s warm in America, you may have heard, so the players are taking on some fluids.
30 min “After an afternoon in the jacuzzi, umbrella open to shield the baking hot sun, I notice the pointless Fifa Club World Cup keeps chugging on,” writes Giovanni Cafagna. “Not a friend nor a relative that I know of cares about it. So good on you for giving us your best MBM coverage once again. I’ll try to stay on, but the negroni on its way will very likely distract me. You are just doing it for the love of football, aren’t you.”
Who showed you my payslip?
29 min Palmeiras are slowly taking control of this game. Allan zips infield from the right and is cynically brought down; no yellow card but a free-kick 35 yards from goal.
26 min “Here in the US, they’re showing advertisements on the screen during the game action,” says Jim. “I guess it really is all about the money.”
No need to guess, Jim, it has been for a while now.
25 min When that Palmeiras corner is eventually taken by Estevao, it leads to a frantic game of pinball in the penalty area. Gomez has a snapshot blocked and Botafogo eventually smuggle the ball away.
22 min A Palmeiras corner is half cleared and then recycled. Estevao curls a really dangerous cross that bounces across the penalty area and is deflected wide.
Moments before that, Giay tried a slightly weird scissor-kick and followed through into the body of Igor Jesus. Boith players are down.
20 min Giay tries a long-range stinger; Savarino blocks it at source. It’s a tight, even game, and we’re probably only 10 minutes away from hearing the phrase “the first goal could be decisive”.
18 min Botafogo work the ball very neatly down the right, with Allan (Botafogo, once of Everton) eventually winning a corner off Gomez. Nothing comes of it.
17 min “The matches I’ve watched at the Club World Cup have generally been good, and I’ve tried to care, but it does feel like they’re taking place in a vacuum,” says Kári Tulinius. “This match, though, matters greatly, because one of those storied Brazilian clubs will reach the quarterfinals, and will have bragging rights. And as we know from knockout tournaments, once a side is three good performances from glory, anything can happen.
Nicely put. My inner sociopath doesn’t really care about the competition, at least not yet, but my inner empath is all over it.
Hang on, have I just outed myself as a sociopath live on the Guardian?
15 min Mr Roque fights determinedly for a nothing ball forward, making life very difficult for the two Botafogo centre-backs. Eventually he runs out of steam and either falls over or dives in the area; either way it’s not a penalty.
14 min The match is starting to liven up, both in terms of creativity and, ahem, unsentimental tackling.
12 min Allan (Palmeiras) beats Freitas through sleight of hip and is cynically booted to the floor. No yellow card.
10 min Scratch that stuff about there being no chances. Estevao controls a crossfield pass and pushes the ball down the line to the overlapping Piquerez. He guides a dangerous low cross towards the near post. where Roque slides in with a couple of Botafogo defenders. The ball takes a slight touch, possibly off the studs of Barboza, and rolls agonisingly across the face of goal.
9 min Palmeiras are pressing high and have had the better of the early play. No chances to speak of though.
7 min Rios is back on his feet and will take the free-kick. He charges up to the ball… and rifles it straight into the wall.
5 min Richard Rios is still down and looks in a lot of pain. All his team-mates are around him; I don’t think he’s broken anything but he’s clearly struggling.
3 min The first yellow card goes to Botafogo centre-back Barboza for a poor scissor tackle on Rios. He’ll miss the quarter-final should Botafogo get through. Barboza may have slipped slightly but he’d already committed to what was a reckless challenge.
2 min Alex Telles wanders infield from left-back with purpose, lays the ball off and is booted up in air by Martinez.
1 min Peep peep! Palmeiras kick off from right to left as we watch.
A reminder of the teams. The hell you care.
Palmeiras (possible 4-2-3-1) Weverton; Giay, Gomez, Fuchs, Piquerez; Allan, Martinez; Estevao, Rios, Mauricio; Roque.
Substitutes: Lomba, Rocha, Vanderlan, Mayke, Micael, Naves, Moreno, Anderson, Veiga, Evangelista, Paulinho, Torres, Luighi, Thalys, Lopez.
Botafogo (possible 4-3-3) John; Vitinha, Jair, Barboza, Telles; Allan, Danilo, Freitas; Artur, Jesus, Savarinho.
Substitutes: Raul, Linck, Ponte, Marcal, Kaio, Ricardo, Cuiabano, Montoro, Rodriguez, Newton, Cruz, Nathan, Correa, Mastriani, Cabral.
Referee Francois Letexier (France)
You’ll notice there’s an Allan on each side, so if during the course of this MBM you read Allan (P), Allan (B), Allan (Palmeiras), Allan (Botafogo) or Allan (FFS which one is it), that’ll be why.
“Minute-by-minute updates on something that no one cares about seem unnecessary,” says Thomas Pedersen.
Bloody hell Thomas, you’re right. Well thanks for joining us. We’ll be back in July with live coverage of something somebody cares about. Goodnight!
Thanks to Stephen for pointing out that the kick-off time is midday in Philadelphia, not 1pm as suggested by somebody with the inability to complete the complex maths puzzle: 17-5=?.
This is a good read on the impact of the four Brazilian teams in America
Team news
Palmeiras make five changes from the side that started their 2-2 draw with Inter Miami. Agustian Giay, Bruno Fuchs, Emiliano Martinez, Allan and Mauricio replace Marcos Rocha, Murilo, Lucas Evangelista, Facundo Torres and Raphael Veiga.
Paulinho, who scored in the 2-2 draw with Inter Miami, remains among the subs. The starting XI also includes the exciting teenage forward Estevao, who will move to Chelsea after this tournament.
A single change for Botafogo, with Danilo – no not that one, or that one, though he did play in Europe for Nice, Benfica, Braga and Valencia – replacing Gregore in midfield. There are some familiar faces to Premier League obsessives: Alex Telles, once of Manchester United, and Allan (Everton) both start.
Palmeiras (possible 4-2-3-1) Weverton; Giay, Gomez, Fuchs, Piquerez; Allan Martinez; Estevao, Rios, Mauricio; Roque.
Substitutes: Lomba, Rocha, Vanderlan, Mayke, Micael, Naves, Moreno, Anderson, Veiga, Evangelista, Paulinho, Torres, Luighi, Thalys, Lopez.
Botafogo (possible 4-3-3) John; Vitinha, Jair, Barboza, Telles; Allan, Danilo, Freitas; Artur, Jesus, Savarinho.
Substitutes: Raul, Linck, Ponte, Marcal, Kaio, Ricardo, Cuiabano, Montoro, Rodriguez, Newton, Cruz, Nathan, Correa, Mastriani, Cabral.
Referee Francois Letexier (France)
Preamble
It’s June, a football World Cup is taking place and everyone is talking about Brazil. But the more things stay the same, the more they change. This is a club World Cup, Brazilian success has caught Europe by surprise – and much of it has been achieved through defensive excellence rather than our old friend J. Bonito.
If the Fifa president Giovanni Infantino is ever the subject of a kiss and tell – oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were eating – don’t be surprised to read that, not unlike David Mellor, he likes to do his worst while wearing a replica top: in Gianni’s case it would probably be one of Palmeiras, Botafogo, Flamengo and Fluminense, the four Brazilian teams who have breathed life and soul into his unloved competition.
Even if European teams dominate the knockout stage, the impact of Brazil’s finest will an abiding memory of the inaugural Club World Cup. That knockout stage begins with a – heat permitting – mouthwatering tie: Palmeiras v Botafogo, the first meeting at this competition between two teams from the same country. (I think it’s the first at any Club World Cup since 14 January 2000, when Corinthians beat Gary Neville’s Vasco da Gama on penalties in the final, but it would take an age to check every tournament since then and the nugget on offer just isn’t worth it.)
Palmeiras topped a group that included Inter Miami and Porto; Botafogo beat PSG – the first in 13 years that the champions of South America have been their European equivalent – and eliminated Atletico Madrid.
The winners will play Benfica and Chelsea on this ground on Friday. Given how much this means to all four Brazilian teams, the losers may not go quietly.
Kick off 5pm BST, 12pm in Philadelphia.
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