Liverpool has moved onto the Club World Cup Final after defeating Rayados de Monterrey 2-1 this Wednesday. The English squad was offensively superior; that was evident by Roberto Firmino‘s goal on aggregate to give his team the win.
Even though Rayados was not the better team, there’s a lot to be admired from their performance.
Rayados Were Ready To Rumble
Monterrey stood up to Liverpool and matched their speed for most of the game. So much that Rogelio Funes Mori tied the game at one goal a side just three minutes after Naby Keita opened the scoring.
They channeled their inner 2000 Necaxa and then some as they gave the 2019 UEFA Champions League winners a run for their money. Tired legs couldn’t hold on for much longer and succumb to the final minutes of stoppage time.
Rayados was more than a worthy rival, but how does CONCACAF look after Moneterrey’s hard to swallow defeat?
What About CONCACAF?
CONCACAF is coming off a good 2019. The Gold Cup was pretty entertaining and showcased the international growth of the region in an almost perfect manner. Club wise, however, things are very different.
CONCACAF teams seem to have the consistency of warm soup and are as reliable as an old computer. Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa, for example, was no match for Tigres in this year’s Champions League round of 16 as they lost 5-2. Neither was Marathon for Santos Laguna. The Mexican XI beat the Honduran team by an 11-2 score after both legs of the match were played.
Good teams constantly turn into shambles year to year. Toronto is a prime example of that. The 2018 Champions Leauge runners up failed miserably against Panama’s Atletico Independiente 5-1. Top it off with Liga MX’s 2018 runners up Toluca. They were sent home by Sporting KC thanks to a 5-0 defeat. Furthermore, recent CONCACAF performances at the Club World Cup have been borderline shameful.
Disasters Abroad
Aside from Pachuca and Rayados, CONCACAF has not done all that well at the Club World Cup in recent years. Cruz Azul was a cakewalk for Real Madrid in 2014. Furthermore, they missed out on a third-place finish after losing to New Zealand’s Auckland City FC.
Chivas was an even bigger mess in 2018. Guadalajara traveled to the United Arab Emirates and flew back home with nothing but a bunch of shame. They lost their opening match to Japan’s Kashima Antlers. El Rebaño lost their second and final match of the tournament and finished dead last.
Soccer tragedies like these make Rayados’ feat even more remarkable.
Don’t Get Fooled
Rayados did well, very well. They could match Necaxa’s performance from 20 years ago after the third-place match against Al-Hilal. Don’t let that fool you though.
CONCACAF is still one of the weakest soccer confederations in the world. Yes, it has teams like Rayados, Tigres and LAFC. Be thankful for them as the rest of them are nowhere near their level. They might never catch up or, in typical regional fashion, those three teams might crumple at some point and turn out to be like the rest.