The Club World Cup Final, The So-Called South American Giants

The World Cup schedule was fairly packed, and the Middle East was indeed quite a distance from mainland Spain.

So after playing South Korea team, Real Madrid did not return to Europe. Instead, they stayed in the United Arab Emirates to train locally and prepare for the FIFA Club World Cup final set to kick off three days later.

Their opponent had already been decided: Estudiantes de La Plata, a club from Argentina's top division.

South American football had a strong atmosphere and produced plenty of Star Players. It had always been one of European football's main rivals.

Real Madrid took this opponent very seriously.

The day after the match, Mourinho had training resumed early to prepare for the final.

Upon learning that Real Madrid had stayed behind to train locally, huge numbers of fans flocked around the training ground, turning Real Madrid's temporary Training Base into a celebrity-chasing hotspot.

But Real Madrid's players had long grown accustomed to this sort of thing.

Whenever they went abroad for overseas training camps or took on commercial appearances, they received this kind of treatment.

Not every region had football standards as high as Europe's, where powerhouse clubs were everywhere. Fans there had seen it all and no longer found it remarkable.

"The FIFA Club World Cup sounds impressive, but it's only two matches, and the opponents are so weak. It really doesn't feel like it has much value!"

On the training ground, Marcelo could not help complaining.

In his view, the level of FIFA Club World Cup teams was not even up to the Spanish Segunda División. Traveling all this way to play teams of this caliber felt like a waste of time.

"There is indeed a huge gap between the football levels of different regions. The current FIFA Club World Cup