If anyone thought it was going to be easy, then you were wrong. It took Barcelona 120 minutes of play to defeat Estudiantes La Plata for the FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.
As it has been for the past few years, the 2 finalists were the Champions League winner (Europe) against the Copa Libertadores winner (South America). It's my personal opinion that regardless how good European clubs are, they usually struggle playing against Latin American clubs. Don't believe me? Look at the finals from the past few years:
2005 -> São Paulo (Brazil) 1 – 0 Liverpool (England)
2006 -> Internacional (Brazil) 1 – 0 Barcelona (Spain)
2007 -> AC Milan (Italy) 4 – 2 Boca Juniors (Argentina)
2008 -> Manchester United (England) 1 – 0 LDU Quito (Ecuador)
This year, Estudiantes scored first, in the 37th minute, and it took Barcelona until the 89th minute to score an equalizer. The advantage European clubs have over clubs from other conferences is their conditioning level. This was clearly evident from the moment the whistle was blown to start the 1st half of Extra Time. In the 110th minute of ET, while players for Estudiantes could barely walk, Lionel Messi scored the winning goal with his chest from a cross by Dani Alves.
And with that, Barcelona makes history!!! This is the first time a club is able to win 6 championships in a single year: Champions League, La Liga, Copa del Rey, Spanish Supercup, European Supercup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.
CAMPEOOOONES...CAMPEOOOONES...OLÉ, OLÉ, OLÉ!!! Vamos Barça!!!
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