Greed got in the way of a fairly interesting match Monday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
In the first Club World Cup held in the United States and the first of six tournament games to be played at MBS, LAFC of MLS gave global powerhouse Chelsea of the English Premier League more of a game than anyone might have expected.
The team with six players with a higher estimated transfer market value than the entire LAFC roster was jostled around by the American underdogs and nearly gave up the game-tying goal in the second half — pardon me, the equaliser — in a 2-0 pool-play win.
It had the feel of an NCAA Tournament first-round match between a No. 2 and 15 seed in which the little school hangs around in the game against the behemoth until the latter’s talent finally prevails in the closing minutes.
“It’s weird, honestly — not winning but still being proud of the whole group and putting up a good fight,” LAFC midfielder Mark Delgado said.
“Competing out there and creating chances and actually having a bit of hope in the second half and getting one or two moments where the momentum shifted a bit made it a bit difficult for them, so I’m proud of the effort.”
The unfortunate aspect of the event — a pool-play game in a 32-team tournament featuring the best clubs in the world — was that FIFA is intent on squeezing as many dollars as it can out of the American public.
The attendance at 71,000-seat Mercedes-Benz Stadium was 22,137. The upper bowl was blocked off. It was, by my esteemed colleague Doug Roberson’s ledger keeping, the smallest attendance for a soccer game at MBS outside of COVID-19.
The attendance also was probably about what you would expect for a soccer game between two teams with no connection to Atlanta held on a Monday at 3 p.m. in a tournament with little name recognition (the actual World Cup is next year), with the get-in price at around $50.
More gallingly, FIFA employed dynamic pricing on its tickets, meaning it could have lowered them to the point where fans might actually have bought them for Monday’s game in sizable numbers.
It would have made sense for a tournament that, in expanding the field from seven to 32 teams, was supposedly trying to grow interest in the game.
FIFA’s real intent was confirmed in the rows and rows of empty seats throughout MBS.
(A moneygrubbing sports organization expanding its football tournament in the pursuit of money. Sounds familiar.)
This has nothing to do with Atlanta’s demand for soccer, which has been proved over and over again. The same Chelsea team, for instance, played in front of more than 70,000 at MBS in 2023 in an exhibition match. The difference was that the game was held at night, and the ticket prices were far more reasonable.
It’s understandable that the game was played at 3 p.m. to cater to the English viewing audience. Not adjusting the ticket prices accordingly is less so. One only hopes that Atlanta’s undeserved reputation for not turning out for sporting events didn’t cross the Atlantic, with callers to London sports talk radio shows deriding our fair city as a “rubbish sports towne.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino promised “an unforgettable spectacle.” The only spectacles Monday were the ones you needed to wear to find the fans.
It’s a shame because it was a game worthy of being played in front of a hyped-up full house. Fans were treated to the skill and touch of Chelsea striker Cole Palmer and the team’s coterie of stars. But they also were witness to a game that MLS supporters could take pride in.
A side that isn’t even the best in the North American league wasn’t subdued until the game’s 79th minute, when Chelsea’s Enzo Fernandez scored for a 2-0 lead. Before that, LAFC had multiple chances when better strikes on the ball could have tied the game at 1 but came up empty.
“We were just very unlucky,” said LAFC’s Delgado. “But overall, proud of the effort.”
Given the vast disparity in resources and talent that exists between the two clubs — the soccer website Transfermarkt estimated Chelsea’s transfer-market value at $1.2 billion, while LAFC’s is $53 million — it would have been a stunner of a result had the American club been able to squeeze out a draw.
The money line odds on LAFC winning (+1,100) implied an 8% chance of victory.
But, as is normally the case in such matchups, quality ultimately prevailed. The first tournament game between teams from MLS and EPL went to the overwhelming favorites.
“It’s a high level against a quality team who, if you give them a moment, they’ll punish you,” Delgado said. “And they had two chances, and they punished us.”
MBS hosts two more group-stage games for the tournament, followed by three knockout-round matchups.
Atlanta doesn’t need to prove to anyone that it cares passionately about soccer. FIFA, on the other hand, might have some explaining to do.
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