As I mentioned in my post about the Sounders vs. Botafogo game, I had the opportunity to attend all of the Club World Cup games that took place in Seattle. This was my 2nd Club Word Cup game and I got to see a team from Argentina (River Plate) play against a team from Japan (Urawa Red Diamonds). It was an entertaining game and I was very impressed by the large number of fans from both teams that made the trip to Seattle!
- Background
- Teams involved
- How I got tickets
- How I got to the game
- The game
- Leaving the stadium
- Conclusion
Background
In my previous Club World Cup post I shared information about the tournament and how it relates to other similar tournaments, like the Intercontinental Cup. Something I’d like to mention in this post is that Japan has had an important connection with South American football. For example, they have been invited to participate in the Copa America twice, in 1999 and 2019. There have also been many players from Brazil who have played in the Japanese league, including some as famous as Hulk and Zico. Zico, in particular, is very highly regarded in Japan for the positive impact he had there both as a player for Kashima Antlers and also as a coach of the Japanese National team.
Teams involved
Urawa Red Diamonds is a team based in Saitama, a city to the north of Tokyo. They participate in the J1 League, the top division of Japanese football. They are one of the most successful clubs in Japan and have won the AFC Champions League (the top continental club tournament in Asia) three times. They qualified to the 2025 Club World Cup by winning the AFC Champions League in 2022.
River Plate is one of the biggest football clubs in Argentina and South America. They are based in Buenos Aires and play their home games at the Estadio Monumental. Notably, that stadium hosted the final of the 1978 World Cup, which Argentina won by defeating the Netherlands. River Plate qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup by being the best-ranked team in the South American 4-year ranking. They have won four Copa Libertadores titles. They won the most recent one in 2018 by defeating bitter rivals Boca Juniors in a home and away final that ended at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain.
How I got tickets
As I mentioned in the Sounders vs. Botafogo post, I followed the same process as with other Club World Cup games and got my tickets through Ticketmaster.
How I got to the game
This time I took public transportation but, instead of taking the Light Rail, I took the Sounder commuter train. I had heard about that train but assumed that it would not run at the time of the game because it usually has departures only in the morning and evening. However, there were special trains running during the Club World Cup. It was a very convenient and comfortable way to get to Lumen field and I plan to use it to go to games whenever possible.
The game
I am much more familiar with River Plate (having watched their games on TV and also knowing that my favorite player, Radamel Falcao, played for them). I had not heard about Urawa Red Diamonds before the Club World Cup, but based on what I had seen from the Japanese national team at the World Cup, I expected this to be an entertaining game with chances for both teams.
This was indeed an entertaining game that either team could have won. River Plate got in front with a goal from Facundo Colidio in the 12th minute. They scored a second goal through Sebastian Driussi in the 48th minute. It seemed that River Plate would cruise to victory but Urawa came out strongly in the 2nd half and had good chances to score. Their intensity paid off when they were awarded a penalty, which Yusuke Matsuo converted in the 58th minute. The game could have gone many different directions from there, but River Plate confirmed their victory with a third goal in the 73th minute, which was scored by Maximiliano Meza.
Leaving the stadium
After the game we walked back to King Street station and took the Sounder train. It departed approximately 45 minutes after the game ended, so it was very easy to get to and from the game.
Conclusion
This was an entertaining game with many scoring opportunities and goals. It was also a match up between teams from continents that usually do not compete against each other. It was also impressive to see so many fans from both teams, considering how far Seattle is from both Saitama and Buenos Aires.