Winning the UEFA Super Cup in August.
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Antlers nearly pulled off one of the greatest upsets in modern soccer history when they took 11-time European champion Madrid to extra time at Nissan Stadium, missing a chance to win it with the last kick of the 90 minutes when Yasushi Endo blazed a shot wide with the score at 2-2. Don’t be surprised if several players the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Sergio Ramos, Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, and Marcelo start the match on the bench, with several reserves and fringe players given a chance in their place.
A misdirected clearance found its way to Shibasaki some distance out from goal and he surged forward, leaving a few men in white in his wake before unleashing a shot that snuck past the goalkeeper.
And with more quality players being attracted to this part of the world, who knows, such nights as that provided by Kashima might become the rule not the exception.
The Antlers, however, had to beat Auckland City of New Zealand, the Oceania champ, in the playoffs, 2-1.
Antlers led through Gaku Shibasaki’s brace but Ronaldo’s late show halted the Japanese side’s progress.
Kashima fell behind early in the sold-out match at Nissan Stadium, going down in the ninth minute as Benzema struck for the second straight game.
Initially, there appeared to be doubts over whether the effort would stand, with match official Enrique Caceres consulting the VARs for a possible offside, with replays showing Ronaldo to have timed his run onto James Rodriguez’s pass perfectly.
Ronaldo managed to equlaize the score when convereted a penalty.
A European side has featured in the final of all but one of the 11 editions of the Club World Cup, Corinthians beating fellow Brazilians Vasco da Gama on penalties after a 0-0 draw in Rio de Janeiro in that initial 2000 decider. I also won the Euros with Portugal. “It’s been 25 years since Japanese football was professionalized and compared to the other clubs, we don’t have the history”. “We are a very talented team”, Zidane said about his team. But we always believe in our ability to attack the opponent.
Real Madrid are in impressive form this season and are unbeaten in their last 36 games in all competitions.
“We’ve made it to the final, and all the players have been committed to the cause and have contributed to our success”.
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The outcome could have been different if Real Madrid continued to play with 10 players, but that didn’t occur. Real Madrid will be busy in 2017.
