Time zone: US/Eastern | Register | Login
Search:

Kashiwa Reysol vs Santos Preview

Gregory Sica, December 13 2011,
Led by the brilliant Neymar South American champions Santos open their Club World Cup quest against Kashiwa Reysol on Wednesday.
19-year-old Neymar is Santos' prized possession
19-year-old Neymar is Santos' prized possession
Related Content:

Kashiwa Reysol
Santos
Related Articles: Santos, Kashiwa Reysol, FIFA Club World Cup, Neymar
Santos and Kashiwa Reysol lock horns at the Toyota stadium on Wednesday for a place in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup. All eyes will be glued on Santos prodigy Neymar, who along with classy playmaker Paulo Henrique Ganso and scoring-machine Borges, will be called upon for Santos' attacking firepower.

Neymar, in particular, has attracted the attention of several of Europe's top clubs, due to his consistently brilliant performances in the Brazilian championship and in the Copa Libertadores, where he played a key role as Santos edged Penarol of Uruguay 2-1 to win their third title.

The Brazilian international will be hoping to be in top form against Kashiwa Reysol in order to lead Santos to what could possibly be a final showdown against European champions FC Barcelona.

But in order to reach the final, Santos have to overcome recently crowned J League champions Kashiwa Reysol, a team that eliminated both Auckland City of New Zealand and Monterrey of Mexico before reaching this instance.

While Kashiwa cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory over Auckland, they ousted the Mexicans on penalty kicks after the score was deadlocked at 1-1 over the 120 minutes. The greatest strengths of the Japanese is clearly their discipline and organisation brought by Brazilian manager Nelsinho Baptista, while their flair can be found from the feet of fellow Brazilian midfielders Leandro Domingues and Jorge Wagner.

The only Kashiwa player that featured against Monterrey on Sunday who could be in doubt for the match is Hiroki Sugeno. The defender felt the recurrence of the knock to his knee that he received against Auckland City against the Mexicans.

Meanwhile, Muricy Ramalho, the coach of Santos, will be able to count with his entire squad, apart from midfielder Adriano, who sustained an injury coming into the competition. Ramalho is also likely to replace aging left-back Leo with 26-year-old defender Bruno Rodrigo.

Due to the abundance of talent in the Santos squad, with players like Neymar, Ganso, Borges, Elano, Arouca and outstanding goalkeeper Rafael, Santos are expected to breeze past the Japanese champions.

But it would be a big mistake for Santos to underestimate Kashiwa, as was the case last year when much-hyped Brazilian side Internacional of Porto Alegre were eliminated at the semi-final stage of the competition at the hands of then-African champions TP Mazembe.

If Santos maintain their concentration throughout the entire ninety minutes, and provide adequate service for star striker Neymar, they should overcome Kashiwa without any problems. While Santos have never participated in the revamped Club World Cup before, they lifted the Intercontinental Cup twice, in 1962 and 1963, by the hand of the great Pele.

Kashiwa Reysol vs Santos

Date: Wednesday, 14 Dec 2011
Time: 05:30 ( US/Eastern )
Competition: FIFA Club World Cup
Live/Repeat: Live

Related Articles

Member Sign In »

Username Password
Forgot Password | Remember
Not a Member Yet? Register Now