UAE Pro League champions Al Ain went from nearly crashing out in the first round to making history by becoming the first Emirati side to finish as FIFA Club World Cup runners-up. And though a gruelling schedule of four games in 10 days finally took its toll against the European champions, Mamic believes his team’s experience will prove extremely valuable going forward. Al Ain’s rollercoaster tournament finally came to an end as Real Madrid beat them 4-1 in Abu Dhabi.
In 2017, Cristiano Ronaldo was Madrid’s match-winner in the final, days after winning the Ballon d’Or; fast forward 12 months and Real once again turned to the year’s newly crowned world’s best - midfield magician Modric - to set them on the way to victory. Al Ain may have suffered the same fate as fellow Emirati outfit Al Jazira - who lost to Madrid in last year’s semi-final - but Zoran Mamic’s side managed to go a step further at the tournament, making history by becoming the first team from the UAE to finish as runners-up at the FIFA Club World Cup.
The AFC Champions League winners were picked apart with ease in their FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 third-place playoff – with River netting three goals in the last 17 minutes to put the exclamation point on their victory. Kashima struggled to deal with River’s quickfire counter-attacking approach in Abu Dhabi and Oiwa was left frustrated by his side’s shaky defending in the second half.
The 4-0 scoreline was perhaps a little flattering to the Argentines but there was no question River were more ruthless in front of goal than their opponents, notably in the latter stages of the game. While Marcelo Gallardo’s side started strongly it was Kashima who were closest to opening the scoring in the early stages when defender Jung Seng-hyun seemingly poked the ball home from a corner. However, a VAR referral saw his effort ruled out for offside.