Over the course of the next week, Gremio will seek to become the first South American team since Corinthians in 2012 to lift the Club World Cup. It is a tall order, but they can at least count on a key advantage not enjoyed by other recent challengers from the continent.
This is the first year that the Copa Libertadores, South America’s Champions League, has been played over the course of the full calendar year, and the change was in part conceived to ensure that the winners enter the Club World Cup in the best possible shape, before European teams have a chance to pick off their best players.
Gremio, therefore, come into the tournament with their top performers still on board and perhaps more importantly for a team for whom the collective generally supersedes the contribution of individuals, their squad intact.
The standout player is Luan. He scored eight times during their Libertadores run and put the result of the final beyond reasonable doubt by waltzing through the Lanus defence and producing a lovely clipped finish to push Gremio’s aggregate advantage to 3-0 during the second leg. Not only a goal scorer, he is also the player who links things together in attack. Strong performances on a worldwide stage may get him his overdue move to Europe.
The only notable absentee is Arthur, a skilled ball-carrier who gained in prominence as the year progressed. The 21-year-old is reported to be attracting interest from the likes of Barcelona and Chelsea, but an ankle injury has ruled him out of the tournament.
Gremio are a side who seek to move the ball forward through the centre of the pitch and having drawn the opposition in, release speedy runners inside the final third. Former Borussia Dortmund striker Lucas Barrios will likely lead the line. They employ a medium press out of possession and can count on a solid defensive line and competent goalkeeper in Marcelo Grohe. In the Libertadores, they only conceded twice in eight knockout games.
The regular approach is set, but coach Renato Gaucho, a winner of the Intercontinental Cup as a Gremio player in the eighties, is not immune to pragmatism. In the first leg of the Libertadores final, with his side struggling to get their normal game going, he brought on the towering Jael and went more direct. It was a headed flick-on from the striker that set up fellow substitute Cicero for the goal that gave Gremio the edge ahead of the return leg.
The coaching staff of semi-final rivals Pachuca and potential final opponents Real Madrid may also want to make sure they survey the sky during their training sessions. ESPN recently revealed that Gremio had utilised a drone to spy on opponents’ practices ahead of a number of domestic and international matches, including the Libertadores final. Renato Gaucho didn’t deny it when questioned.
It could be argued that a side of Gremio’s quality didn’t really require such tricks to overcome their continental rivals, but they will certainly take advantage of any edge available to them at the Club World Cup. The financial and often tactical superiority of the European teams has been strikingly evident in recent editions, and if they can make it past Pachuca on Tuesday, the likely final against Real Madrid will require Gremio to be at their very best.
