Barcelona Favorites in Club World Cup

After a year's worth of regional tournaments, each soccer confederation has had one team persevere to enter the Club World Cup. With only a few weeks before the tournament kicks off in Toyota City, Japan, the brackets are finally set.

The opening round contenders will be Auckland F.C. (New Zealand) of the OFC, CONCACAF's Club America (Mexico), AFC side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors FC (Republic of Korea), and Al Ahly (Egypt) from CAF. These four teams will play for the chance to face either Internacional (Brazil) or F.C. Barcelona (Spain) in the semi-final round.

Because the tournament has always been won by either a CONMEBOL (South American) or UEFA (European) side, these teams enter the tournment on a bye. Last year's title was taken by Sao Paulo who dealt Liverpool an astounding 1-0 loss in the final.

The first match will be played between Auckland and Al Ahly. Al Ahly is coming off their second straight CAF Championship, after topping Tunisian side, Sfaxien, 2-1 on aggregate only a few weeks ago.

Auckland, on the other hand, holds a tight grip on the third place position in New Zealand with only two losses on the season. The New Zealanders have yet to lose at home, and their last defeat was suffered against Manwatu on October 21.

With both teams playing at such a high level, it will be hard to say who will come out on top on December 10. However, it is likely that Al Ahly played through tougher competition in the CAF regional tournament. With champion club teams coming from a variety of strong soccer nations in Africa like Tunisia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Camaroon, Al Ahly certainly had to play at a higher level more regularly than Auckland, whose only strong opponents were likely from Australia. Al Ahly is expected to move on and face Internacional in the semi-finals.

On December 11, the champion from CONCACAF (North and Central American and the Caribbean) will square off against the AFC (Asian) champion. Club America of Mexico will represent CONCACAF after beating former regional title holder, Saprissa of Costa Rica. America recently finished its Apetura campaign with 29 points in a group which included strong competition from Pumas and Toluca. America's next opponent will be Chivas de Guadalajara in the semi-finals of the Liga Mexicana Championship.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors has tended to be a mid-table team in the K-League since the team's foundation in 1993. The team recently overcame a new kind of competition having faced the champions of China, Syria, and Japan. The newcomers to the regional tournament handled the pressure well and took home the title after defeating Al Kamara of Syria.

With Club America being the more exprienced side, they are anticipated to win this match. However, Jeonbuk has already proven itself to be a capable giant slaying team. This should prove to be the more interesting of the two opening round matches. The winner will move on to play Ronaldinho and Barcelona.

It is more than likely that both Internacional and Barcelona will win their respective semi-final matches and end up playing each other in another UEFA vs. CONMEBOL championship. In recent years, the title has alternated between South American teams and European teams.

Last year, Sao Paulo took the title, but the year before FC Porto took home the title after beating Once Caldas 8-7 in penalty kicks. Also of note Boca Juniors beat Milan for the 2003 championship, but in 2002 Real Madrid topped Olimpia of Paraguay. Although this pattern is no way to determine a winner, Barcelona should be able to take home the title.

Depite losing Samuel Eto'o to injury, the team is still an assembly of international superstars. Ronaldinho will lead the team on the attack but will certainly have plenty of support from Deco, Giuly, and Gudjohnsen. The team's defense is also remarkably strong with Rafael Marquez, Lilian Thuram, and Gianluca Zambrotta. Although Zambrotta and Thuram are starting to age, their defensive skills can't be denied.

Internacionel will count on a host of Brazilian players, who will likely give it their all to attract the attention of the big league scouts which will most certainly be in attendance. The team currently relies on Iarley and Alex for its production up front. The team will also expect their young Colombian to be at his best. Reneteria has made 23 appearances for Internacional but only managed to score twice. For Internacional to keep the title in South America, their forwards will have to put some in the back of the net.

The safe bet in this year's tournament lies with Ronaldinho. This Brazilian phenom is always a sure bet, and in combination with players like Messi and Deco, fans expect magic and miracles to happen. Barcelona is often times full of splendor on the pitch and should have what it takes to be named the best team in the world.