Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has stated that his team is ready to win the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time in history when they face the Japanese side of Urawa in the semi-final of the competition on Tuesday.
Urawa of Japan are the holders Asian Champions League and they will fight for a place in the final of the competition against the European Champions at Jeddah’s King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.
The winner of the clash will face Brazilians Fluminese in the final of the competition. Pep Guardiola has won the competition twice in the past with FC Barcelona, and the last 10 winners of the FIFA Club World Cup have been European teams, but the Spanish music still wants to win the competition.
“We want to win it. Once we are here, it is a trophy we do not have. We want to close the little circle and win all the trophies we could do. This is the last one. In the Premier League, you have another game in three days. Here, it may be another lifetime. To reach the final is tricky. We don’t know them much; we got as much information as possible. Japan’s national team is beating Germany, winning games against the best in the world. Football in Japan is strong.” Guardiola said.
Meanwhile, Manchester City has been drawn against Dane side FC Copenhagen in the round of 16. The Danish team finished second behind Bayern Munich in a team that also had Galatasaray and Manchester United.
The only other English team left in the competition, Arsenal, were drawn against Portuguese side FC Porto.
Champions League last 16 draws:
FC Porto v Arsenal
FC Copenhagen v Man City
Napoli v Barcelona
PSG v Real Sociedad
Inter Milan v Atletico Madrid
PSV Eindhoven v Borussia Dortmund,
Lazio v Bayern Munich
RB Leipzig v Real Madrid.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu