INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Players, coaches and officials have reacted to the Club World Cup draw that will be played in the United States from June 16 next year, and
despite being six months away, they are all already hard at work plotting their path to the final.The draw produced a string of heavyweight
match-ups, fascinating sub-plots and regional rivalries
Here is some of the best reactions from across the planet to how the eight groups are shaping up.Group A: SE Palmeiras, FC Porto, Al Ahly
FC, Inter Miami CFWe will have three extremely difficult games in the group stage, but we will prepare ourselves in the best way possible to
It is an honour and a joy to compete in the most important club competition in the history of world football.Leila Pereira, Palmeiras
presidentAs players, we gathered to watch the draw together and I think it&s a balanced and good group that includes strong teams such as
Inter Miami, Porto, and Palmeiras
I believe we have the ability to reach the knockout stage of the tournament.Mohamed El-Shenawy, Al Ahly captainGroup B: Paris Saint-Germain,
Atlético de Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle Sounders FCIt&s an honour for all Atlético fans to participate in the first edition of the FIFA Club
We have a very difficult group, with three high-level opponents
PSG are a great side, with a brilliant manager and really high-level players
We faced them a few weeks ago [in the UEFA Champions League] and it was a tough battle
It&ll be a difficult debut in the competition
Botafogo just won the Copa Libertadores, showing their enormous potential
The Brazilian sides are brilliant and will make like very difficult for us
Seattle Sounders are one of the best sides in the United States, who keep raising their level every season, and they will be very dangerous
and competitive given that they are playing at home
I think it is the most difficult group in this first phase and there will be some great games for the fans&.Enrique Cerezo, Atlético de
Madrid presidentI saw this [Luis Enrique saying that Botafogo would fall into the PSG group]
I want to say that I trust and love anyone with the name Luis Enrique
I saw it, I thought it was super funny and how prophetic, right? He&s a great guy, a great coach
I think Botafogo will shock some people
I believe we are the best team in South America
They play good football in Europe, and so do we.John Textor, Botafogo&s ownerIf I look at it from my lens as a soccer fan, a guy who grew up
in Seattle, I think it&s unbelievable
You&ve got the biggest club in France
You&ve got a Spanish team that is unbelievably talented, a legendary coach, and then the Copa Libertadores champion
And Joao Paulo, one of our players, actually played for Botafogo
So I mean, just three really fantastic clubs from a fan perspective.Brian Schmetzer, Seattle Sounders head coachGroup C: FC Bayern München,
Auckland City FC, CA Boca Juniors, SL BenficaIt&s a great honour to be able to play the Club World Cup with Bayern Munich
I&m really looking forward to this new tournament, where we players can compete against the best in the world at club level
As a player, you always want to play at the highest level
I&m very excited about the matches and who will be the first winners of this new format.Harry Kane, Bayern Munich strikerI&ve never played
professionally in my life and never did I think I&d be playing against someone like Harry Kane
I never even thought I could watch someone like that in a stadium let alone go toe-to-toe with them.Mario Ilich, Auckland City
midfielderIt&s a difficult group
Bayern Munich, at European level, we&ve never managed to beat
And also Boca Juniors, which is one of the most historic teams in South America
Then Auckland, who we know less about, but who I believe come with the same ambitions as the others
We will do everything we can to get through the group stage, which is our objective
It is a very important competition, a historic moment
We don''t come here to see the party
We want to get as far as possible.Rui Costa, Benfica presidentGroup D: CR Flamengo, Espérance Sportive de Tunis, Chelsea FC, Club
León
&Our bracket is difficult, but I&m very confident
We&ll reach the tournament a good moment, still in the middle of the year, when the team won''t be as tired as it usually is at the end of
the year.Rodolfo Landim, Flamengo presidentWe&ve been placed in a tough group, which is a motivating challenge and, in itself, a good thing
This competition also gives us a unique opportunity to experience a wide variety of playing styles from all over the world
We will do everything we can to progress through this group stage and proudly represent our colours.Laurentiu Reghecampf, Espérance
Sportive de Tunis coachGroup E: CA River Plate, Urawa Red Diamonds, CF Monterrey, FC Internazionale MilanoWe look at rivals objectively and
not as something personal
You have to analyse the parties individually
The story of [Martin] Demichelis [Monterrey coach and former River Plate coach and player] has a lot to do with River, we know
We also knew before that we could face each other [Javier Zanettii] in the final
Inter is an opponent with great history
But they are all tough to play against.Jorge Brito, River Plate presidentIt&s an interesting draw for us
I thought maybe two Europeans would get in, but we got one team from Europe, the others from Mexico and Argentina, so we are playing against
three different football cultures
It will be a big challenge for Urawa
It is no secret that the team needs new blood and new players
We need strong characters to achieve our goals.Maciej Skorza, Urawa Reds coachRiver Plate are a big club, a great institution and they have
We&ll have to prepare in the best way
To face a team like River is very difficult, they have great players
It will be a wonderful match.Javier Zanetti, Inter Milan vice-presidentYesterday I told my brother that I wanted to play against Inter and
I wanted to play against teams I had never played before
The Mexican teams and the South American teams maybe don''t have so many references in Europe, but I think they are going to surprise at the
There is a lot of talent and a lot of desire to do well.Oliver Torres, Monterrey midfielderGroup F: Fluminense FC, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan
HD, Mamelodi Sundowns FC
&The fact that the best teams from all continents and confederations of recent years come together at the FIFA Club
World Cup is perhaps best demonstrated by our group: we have four teams and four continents
Personally, I think it&s great that we&re facing a Brazilian team because of our long tradition of BVB players coming from Brazil
We&ve earned the right to be here over the years through our performance
And we&ll take this competition very seriously.Lars Ricken, Borussia Dortmund managing directorIt&s a question of mindset and confidence
Football must be played and then it will be 11 against 11
You have to go out on the field and perform as well as possible
Borussia Dortmund is a traditional club, and the same goes for the other two clubs in their countries.Branco, Fluminense legendAfter seeing
the interest and effort from FIFA to create this tournament, I can feel that the Club World Cup is just around the corner
This is a hard earned opportunity for us
We will be going to the Club World Cup in our strongest form and try to make it a successful tournament for us.Kim Kwang-guk, Ulsan HD
general managerI am so happy to see the name Mamelodi Sundowns listed among the best clubs
I got goosebumps just seeing our name on the screen
It&s such an emotional moment and an incredible achievement for the club.Ronwen Williams, Mamelodi Sundowns captainGroup G: Manchester City,
Wydad AC, Al Ain FC, Juventus FCIt&s quite an exciting draw
[We&ve drawn] one team we&ve played a lot and actually play them next week [in the UEFA Champions League], Juventus
It&s a big game, we&ve always had big games against them
Then there&s two teams we&ve never played so it&s going to be an interesting group
They&re tough opposition, so there are going to be good games.Roel de Vries, Manchester City Chief Operating OfficerWe will meet one of the
favourites for the trophy, Manchester City; in general it will be a tough group, and the opponents are excellent teams
The tournament seems wonderful to me, it is new and there is much to discoverStephan Lichtsteiner, Juventus legendI am satisfied with this
I wanted us to be in the same group as Manchester City, and that wish has been granted
Facing a coach I admire greatly, like Pep Guardiola, motivates me
We now have six months to be at our best and show the world what we, Wydad Athletic, are capable of achieving.Rulani Mokwena, Wydad AC
coachGroup H: Real Madrid C
F., Al Hilal, CF Pachuca, FC SalzburgWe&re hugely excited by the start of this competition and we want to try and win it
Pachuca is a Mexican club with great tradition and it won''t be an easy game
We faced Al Hilal in the Club World Cup final and they&re a club that has really grown and boast top quality players
They&re bound to be dangerous
And we&re set to play Salzburg in the Champions League in January as well&.Emilio Butragueno, Real Madrid Institutional Relations DirectorIt
is a great pleasure for us that our Salzburg way has now led us to the FIFA Club World Cup, where we will be competing against the world&s
best club teams of recent years
I think that this participation is not only a great honour for FC Salzburg, but also a recognition of the entire Austrian club football
system, which has steadily developed in recent years.Stephan Reiter, Managing Director of FC Salzburg The post Stars react to FIFA Club
World Cup match-ups first appeared on Ariana News.
