By Samindra Kunti in Jeddah
December 22 — Manchester City cruised past Fluminense of Brazil 4-0 to win a maiden Club World Cup and conclude a spectacular 2023 with a fifth trophy.
In a one-sided final, Julian Alvarez needed just 40 seconds to score, drawing on his instinct to shoulder a rebound into the net, and from that moment on City never looked back. Fluminense enjoyed brighter spells playing out of the back and at times through City’s press, but lacked composure and power in the final third.
The European champions were in control with Rodri orchestrating play in the midfield. A Nino own goal doubled City’s lead in the 27th minute.
Fluminense manager Fernando Diniz responded at half-time by bringing on John Kennedy at half-time, but City were no match for the Rio club.
Phil Foden and Alvarez, again, ran up the score in the second half. City were without Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku but even so the gulf in class between the European side and Fluminense was remarkable.
Rodri departed with an injury after Fluminense’s Aleksander smashed into him, a reminder that calendar congestion and a tournament like the Club World Cup, considered irrelevant in Europe, increases the risk of injuries.
Earlier this week, Guardiola said, as FIFA released more details about the expanded Club World Cup in 2025, that he is not against new competitions but “against the lack of time to recover between year by year.”
Guardiola became the first coach to win the Club World Cup with three different clubs after previous successes with FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Diniz was left to lament a heavy defeat, but recognised City’s superiority.
“This was the Fluminense from the beginning to the end of the year,” said Diniz.
“We’ve taken on the best team in the world in the last five years, with a lot of ability to dominate. We conceded a goal very early. We conceded the second goal with everyone behind the line of the ball, we shouldn’t have conceded it. The team tried to play, played under high pressure all the time and managed to get out most of the time. The team is to be congratulated, lost to a great team and now it’s time to think about next season.”
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