In Pasadena, Monterrey made a strong statement in the Club World Cup by defeating the Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0, securing their place in the knockout rounds. During a flurry in the first half, they scored three goals over just ten minutes. Monterrey ended up as the runner-up in Group E, behind Inter Milan, who won against River Plate in a parallel game held in Seattle. Monterrey is now set to face Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16 in Atlanta.
The match took place at the Rose Bowl, which has a capacity of 89,702, yet saw an attendance of just 14,312 spectators. In the 30th minute, Monterrey began their scoring streak with Nelson Deossa launching a shot from 35 yards that the Urawa goalkeeper, Shusaku Nishikawa, managed to touch but couldn’t stop, giving Monterrey an early lead. After a brief pause for a cooling break, Germán Berterame found the net again, this time placing the ball in the bottom right corner to double the advantage. Jesús Corona then extended the lead by scoring a long-range goal that beautifully dipped into the goal in the 39th minute. Berterame capped the evening with his second goal during stoppage time.
Having suffered losses to both River Plate and Inter Milan, the Urawa Red Diamonds were already eliminated from the competition. Monterrey, representing Liga MX, played with determination from the opening whistle. Early in the match, Alphonso Alvarado almost netted a goal, only for his header to be denied by the crossbar.
A pivotal moment of the match came after Sergio Ramos had previously scored Monterrey’s sole goal in the team’s first two games. This match saw the team muster three goals within the first half, much to the delight of their passionate supporters at Rose Bowl. Coming into the match positioned third in group standings, Monterrey understood the importance of scoring to progress further in the tournament.
As the clock wound down and the victory seemed secured, Monterrey took a cautious approach, notably because several players were on thin ice after receiving yellow cards in their match against River Plate. The team managed their game effectively to ensure they didn’t lose any players to suspension for the forthcoming round of 16 clash.
Reflecting on the defeat, Urawa captain Takahiro Sekine, through a translator, stated, “We do not know how we are going to improve on this, but each of us felt lessons and learned lessons individually. So I think we can use this going forward.” Meanwhile, Berterame, lauded as the man of the match, commented on his team’s persistence, saying, “We got a win, that is what we were looking for. There was a lot of sacrifice in the match. It was a tough start, from the very first match until now, they were all tough. So we did grind our teeth and go for it.”