Juventus Thrash Al Ain in Club World Cup After Trump Visit

(The Post News)- After a trip to the White House Juventus crushed Al Ain 5-0 on Wednesday in their Club World Cup opening, with braces from Randal Kolo Muani and Francisco Conceicao. The Italian powerhouses, who earlier in the day dispatched a delegation to meet with US President Donald Trump, soared to the top of Group G, surpassing Wydad AC and Manchester City.

Trump, to whom they gave a club shirt, asked other Juventus employees and players if they believed a woman could join their first squad. It seemed as though Trump was criticising transgender athletes. The club’s “very good women’s team” was the general manager Damien Comolli’s response.

As Juventus destroyed UAE’s Al Ain at Audi Field in front of 18,000 spectators, the players remained silent but felt much more at ease commenting on the field. Igor Tudor, the coach of Juventus, remarked, “It was a real pleasure to go there because you don’t go to the White House every day.” “In the game we did a number of excellent things, we played at a good tempo… all things considered it’s a good start.”

After eleven minutes, Alberto Costa’s cross was headed in by Kolo Muani, who had extended his loan from Paris Saint-Germain to compete in the tournament in the United States. Ten minutes later, Conceicao, who was on loan from Porto, raced past one defender in the box and then scored with a deflection to give Juventus a two-goal advantage.

Turkish forward Kenan Yildiz netted the third after 31 minutes, carving out some space on the edge of the box and drilling in at the near post.
French striker Kolo Muani grabbed his second with a deft finish in first-half stoppage time to pile on the misery for Al Ain. Kouame Autonne had a goal disallowed for offside for the UAE side before Conceicao struck again, benefitting from another slight deflection.

Kolo Muani might have completed his hat-trick when sent through but goalkeeper Rui Patricio shut him down well, and Douglas Luiz blasted narrowly off-target late on. Juventus, who finished fourth in Serie A, are hoping to make up for a trophyless season with success in the United States this summer.

“The team had a great game, we’re happy, we’ll get ready for the next game, I just want to play well for my team-mates, for the club, and we’ll see how many I can score,” Kolo Muani stated. When Al Ain takes on Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in Atlanta next, things aren’t likely to get any easier.

“We played against such a good team at the World Cup, and we respected Juventus more than we needed to at first, which allowed them to score two or three goals with ease. What (is there) to do? The next one must be considered,” Vladimir Ivic, the Serbian coach of Al Ain, stated.