Ramón-Ancelotti: a final, two old acquaintances

Ramón and Emiliano Díaz on one bench, Carlo and Davide Ancelotti on the other. The Club World Cup final that Al Hilal and Real Madrid are playing today became a family affair between two old acquaintances who have their children as their main assistants.

The Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti and Pelado Díaz share many things. The two were born in 1959 and were very outstanding soccer players, facing each other in the powerful Italian league of the 80s. Yesterday at the press conferences prior to the Mundialito final they remembered those days.

Do you remember a 1983 Roma-Napoli game with goals from Díaz and Ancelotti? “Great goal!”, the Italian replied to the journalist. He then had nice words for Pelado: “He was a great striker, strong, intense, he left a positive image in the teams he passed through. I am delighted to see you again, I will greet you with love”.

Then it was Ramón’s turn: “He was one of the greats in Italy, we faced each other many times, we admired him for his dedication. It is not easy to survive in this world. I respect and love him very much too.”

After their outstanding soccer careers, the two became successful coaches, incorporating their children into their teams, now their main assistants. Both Emiliano (b. 1982) and Davide (1989) tried out as players, with more luck for the former, but eventually found their way onto the benches.

The final. Real Madrid is the great favorite for the Club World Cup final that will be played against Al Hilal today from 4 pm and will be televised by DirecTV Sports. Ancelotti’s team has a record of four titles won in this international tournament and an undefeated record of 13 games without losing.

On the other side, Ramón’s team. It is a group of good level that has twelve World Cup players with Saudi Arabia, the only team that defeated Argentina in Qatar. In fact, Salem Al-Dawsari plays, author of the goal that sentenced the Albiceleste and who again did somersaults against Flamengo after scoring a double penalty.

Another of the players that Pelado has is Luciano Vietto, a forgotten player in European football who was reborn in style in the semifinal in Tangier and ended his exhibition with a great goal. The player trained in Racing knows what it is to convert Real Madrid, after playing between 2014 and 2018 in the Spanish League (Villarreal, Atlético, Sevilla and Valencia). “Madrid is a tremendous team, used to playing these games. It is one of the best clubs in the world and it will be a very tough game”, the 29-year-old attacker said respectfully.

Before the grand finale, on the same stage, but at 12:30 p.m., Flamengo from Brazil and Al-Ahly from Egypt will play for third place.