By Gustavo Castilho
Whoever advances faces the winner between Bayern Munich and Al Ahly-EGI, who play tomorrow
The path to the dream of world champion began for Palmeiras. The team faces Tigres-MEX, today at 3 pm, Brasília time, at the Cidade da Educação Stadium, in Doha, Qatar. This is the first confrontation of the semifinal. Tomorrow is the turn of Bayern Munich and Al Ahly-EGI to decide the second finalist.
Palmeiras should go to the field with the same team that faced Santos in the Libertadores final, with a reinforced midfield and in the attack the duo Rony and Luiz Adriano. The absences of the Brazilian team are: Wesley, Gabriel Veron and Breno Lopes. The first is still far from ideal conditions after undergoing surgery. The coaching staff placed left-back Lucas Esteves among those listed for the tournament. Veron was cut off at the last minute by physical problems. Breno Lopes, author of the Libertadores title goal, ended up vetoed by contractual issues, as he arrived at Palmeiras after the end of the FIFA international transfer window.
For the duel against Palmeiras, Tigres has the entire squad complete. Attacking midfielder Javier Aquino, after a strong head shock with Ulsan’s Kim Kee-Hee, in the last match, has recovered and should go to the field soon.
Trained by the Brazilian Tuca Ferretti, Tigres seeks to write its name in the history of Mexican football. The team tries to make history in the competition, since a Mexican team has never beaten a South American in a Club World Cup. There were four matches: Vasco and Necaxa (2000), LDU against Pachuca (2008), Atlético Nacional-COL against América (2016) and lastly Grêmio over Pachuca (2017). Tigres, which for the first time won the Conca Champions and qualified for the World Cup, are also trying to be the first Mexican team to make the World Cup decision at Concacaf.
