December 15, Yokohama Nissan Stadium, Japan.
In the FIFA Club World Cup semifinals, Real Madrid faced Club América.
The two teams had met once before in the previous season's FIFA Club World Cup. Unexpectedly, they crossed paths again a year later.
In the other semifinal, held a day earlier than Real Madrid's match, Japan's hosts Kashima Antlers astonishingly defeated South American champions Atlético Nacional 3–0, becoming the first Japanese team to reach the FIFA Club World Cup final. It was quite a surprise.
For Real Madrid, however, as long as they defeated Club América and reached the final, there would be little suspense over the championship.
Right from the start, Real Madrid took complete control of the match.
Zidane still did not field all his key players, but both of his star forwards, Yang Yang and Suarez, were ordered to start.
This was one of FIFA's more infuriating policies. Worried about the FIFA Club World Cup's influence and entertainment value, they would require European champions to field as many key players as possible, especially a superstar in the limelight like Yang Yang.
Yang Yang was not actually in good form. He was in the middle of an intensive physical training phase. As a result, not long after kickoff, when he earned a free-kick opportunity with a burst through the front line, he took it from his most favored position—yet sent the ball straight into the wall.
Anyone could see that he was not sufficiently fired up.
But in the twenty-sixth minute, Vázquez crossed from the right, sending the ball to the edge of the six-yard box. Faced with an opportunity from point-blank range, Yang Yang nodded the ball on with a header and sent it straight into Club América's goal. 1–0!
The goal was mainly a testament to Vázquez's