The final of the Club World Cup will put Fernando Diniz and Pep Guardiola against each other, two coaches with similarities and differences in their football philosophy.
Both share the idea of promoting a colorful, offensive game without fixed positions, while when it comes to marking disparities, beyond the budgets of the clubs they manage, the variation in the average age of the starting eleven is also notable.
If we take the starting lineups that both teams put in the semifinals of the tournament being held in Saudi Arabia, the average age of the Flu is close to 32 years, while that of the Citizens reaches 28. A distance that at when it came to measuring results, they proved to be successful bets for both coaches.
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The Rio team presented seven starters over the age of 33 against Al Ahly, in a confidence due to the experience that was fruitful: goalkeeper Fábio (43 years old) was a wall between the three sticks, Felipe Melo (40 years old) was solid to stop the counterattacks, Samuel Xabier (33 years old) cleared a ball in the first half that was a sure goal for the Egyptians and Marcelo (35 years old) caused the penalty that opened the scoring.
This experience has already proven its worth in winning the first Copa Libertadores for Fluzão, in which Germán Cano (35 years old) was the absolute scorer, Keno (34 years old) led the assist table and whereas Ganso (34 years old) was the leader in the midfield.
It is far from being a team of retired former stars, as indicated by a recent article in the British newspaper The Telegraph, which called the Fluminense starters “a more suitable lineup for Soccer Aid,” in reference to the match in charity that takes place annually in the United Kingdom among legends who have already hung up their boots and celebrities.
“We take great advantage of the immense quality and professionalism of these players, of the generosity they have with everyone at Fluminense, of the teaching they transmit to the youngest players,” Diniz said at a press conference in Saudi Arabia when evaluating his experienced footballers. and the knowledge they instill in the rest of the team.
The young stars of Guardiola’s City
For his part, Pep Guardiola has reduced the average age of his squad in recent seasons by betting on already established young footballers. With a much larger wallet than Flu, they acquired Erling Haaland (23 years old), Julián Álvarez (23 years old), Jérémy Doku (21 years old), Joško Gvardiol (21 years old) and Sergio Gómez (23 years old), among others. In addition, he gave Phil Foden (23 years old) and Rico Lewis (19 years old) a role, to name a few who are in the starting eleven with some regularity.
Although Haaland and Doku will not be in the Club World Cup final due to injury, the difference in average age is still notable. But even more notable is that this gap matters little, since talent knows no age and each team managed to reach this final with its own resources.
