YEDA.- The Spanish coach of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, ruled out the presence of his Norwegian scorer Erling Haaland in the final of Mundialito on Friday before Fluminenseexplaining that he “can’t train yet.”
Haaland, with physical problems in the foothas missed his team’s last four games, including this Tuesday’s victory in the semifinals of the Club World Cup before him Urawa Red Japanese (3-0).
The rules of the tournament being held in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) establish that only the 23 players registered for the semi-final can play in the final, so the Norwegian, like the Belgian midfielder, Kevin De Bruynethey no longer represent an extra headache for the ‘Flu’ coach, Fernando Diniz.
Guardiola stated that the plan for the final against the champion of the CONMEBOL is “sleep, sleep, sleep”, and criticized the conditions of the stadium grass King Abdullah Sports City: “They weren’t very good honestly.”
“Tomorrow is a day of rest, we are going to have dinner together, create an environment in which everyone knows how important the game is for the club,” said the Catalan coach, who has three World Cup titles. Club World Cup in his record.
“As I said, to play in this final you have to do incredible things, win the Champions Leagueonce you’re here it’s a title you play once in your life.”
The key for Guardiola:
Guardiola highlighted the importance of group unity in long concentrations away from home. “Being together is very important, during the season you arrive at training and return home. Here we spend more time together, we have an incredible captain with Kyle (Walker), who organizes a lot of things for the team“said Guardiola, who confessed that he did not expect to meet a Urawa “so compact.”
“I’m sure the players will do everything they can to win the only title they don’t have.“, he stated.
Source: AFP
