River Plate secured a convincing 3-1 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday, kicking off their Club World Cup Group E campaign on a high note.
The Argentine outfit dominated the spirited Japanese side at Seattle’s Lumen Field under sunny skies in an engaging encounter.
Although the stadium’s capacity is 69,000, fewer than 12,000 spectators attended the match. Many had travelled from Japan and Argentina, creating a lively atmosphere at both ends of the pitch.
Striker Facundo Colidio, who opened the scoring, thanked the travelling River Plate fans. “We knew it wouldn’t be easy to make it here, given the long journey and lack of direct flights,” he said. “But they made it and gave amazing support throughout the game. The venue was tricky, very far from Argentina.”
All six South American teams participating in the expanded Club World Cup have remained unbeaten so far.
River Plate, under the guidance of Marcelo Gallardo, started strongly. Colidio powered a header into the net from a cross by former Sevilla defender Marcos Acuna to give his team the lead.
Urawa gradually found their rhythm, with River’s goalkeeper Franco Armani making a sharp save from Yusuke Matsuo, although Matsuo was offside.
New Real Madrid signing Franco Mastantuono came close to assisting a second goal, setting up Nacho Fernandez, but Fernandez’s effort went narrowly wide. The 17-year-old Argentine, who will join Real Madrid after the tournament, was quieter than expected overall.
Urawa, who qualified by winning the 2022 Asian Champions League, made a costly error early in the second half. Defender Marius Hoibraaten’s careless back pass caught goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa off guard, allowing Sebastian Driussi to nod home the second River goal before injuring himself in the process and being substituted.
Matsuo pulled a goal back for Urawa from the penalty spot after Acuna fouled Takuro Kaneko, sending Armani the wrong way.
Maximiliano Meza sealed the win for River Plate with a header from Acuna’s corner, leaving him unmarked.
“Although we lost today, we’ll learn a lot and take it into the next match,” said Matsuo.
Urawa coach Maciej Skorza expressed his disappointment with the defeat. “The result is disappointing,” he said. “We put in a lot of effort, but the start of the game was far from what we expected. The second half was better, but conceding so easily was too much.”
Later on Tuesday, Group E’s other match will see Champions League runners-up Inter Milan face Mexican side Monterrey at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.