Club World Cup begins with two immaculate zeroes
The Club World Cup opened with Al Ahly and Inter Miami drawing 0 to 0, which gave football a thrilling opportunity to discover how many adjectives can perform CPR on a scoreboard. The answer was all of them.
Inter Miami goalkeeper Oscar Ustari saved a first half penalty and several other efforts. He spent the evening treating the net as a private collection, unavailable for public viewing or moments of narrative movement.
At last, the goals stay exactly where they are
Al Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy then denied Inter Miami, including a late Lionel Messi effort. Both keepers delivered the rare sporting achievement of winning a match that officially nobody won.
“This game had everything except the administratively optional goals,” said Clive Thunder Margin of the Institute for Scoreless Spectacle. “The zeroes showed tremendous international quality.”
The tournament had promised a global showpiece. It delivered two perfect circles on a screen. Each circle represented the international brotherhood of not getting past that particular man.
The sponsors consider a new unit of excitement
Supporters saw saves, a penalty and late pressure. Meanwhile, the goalmouths remained pristine and unused. FIFA staff could now return them in the original packaging, ideally before anyone noticed they came with openings.
Messi sent a late attempt towards the Al Ahly goal. El Shenawy saved it. Somewhere, a producer removed the word spectacular from the next trailer and replaced it with technically alive.
After the whistle, both teams took a point. The two goalkeepers took the plot, the reviews and temporary custody of everybody’s patience. The scoreline took another quiet lie down.
Read the real story: FIFA’s report on the Club World Cup opener.
