Los Angeles – As the Club World Cup closes on Sunday, the football community of North America is celebrating that Major League Football Commissioner Don Garber says a success moment for the region.
With over three million fans who participated in matches in the last month, Garber said the event had firmly put the United States and its neighbors on the international football map.
Garber told Reuters in an interview on Friday, “There was a lot of expectation on it.”
“Whenever you do something new that changes the perspective of people on international competition, there are always questions about how it will come together and what effect it will have.”
According to Garber, the inaugural version of the extended 32-Team tournament has proved to be an “incredible success” and a “moment of pride” for all involved in North American football.
The event, which showed dozens of matches in new places for such high-profile competitions, attracted global attention to the US football market-a market that Garber said, was eager to prove itself for a long time.
“We always have a little chip of a chip on our shoulder in the American football business,” Garber said.
“But the energy and knowledge of our crowd, diversity and festive atmosphere – they showed the world what we were able to do.”
The Club World Cup also provided an important test run for several stadiums for hosting matches during the next year’s FIFA World Cup, which will be co-condemned by the US, Mexico and Canada.
“It was a Hercules,” Garber praised FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, saying, for his role in making the incident possible.
“I don’t think everyone thinks how difficult it is in dozens and dozens of matches, all are going on several times a week, in stadiums who have never hosted this type of competition.”
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“This surprises many people,” Garber said. “For decades, we have been trying to show the world that we can be an impressive, meaningful part of global football conversation.”
Accepting that Europe’s clubs are prominent on the World Forum, Garber believes the club World Cup offered a platform for emerging clubs and leagues to demonstrate its progress.
“A lot of positive things are happening in Brazil in the United States,” he said.
“Some leagues that super clubs do not get as much exposure as the super clubs were able to stand for a long time.”
Despite the challenges, the phenomenon went with some bottlenecks, including rapid stadium conversion, new ticketing processes and warm weather in some matches.
“Everything was not right, but nothing is right in life,” Garber said.
“If you try to progress every day, to make both on the field and outside, you can get something special. I am eager to see what this tournament can be in the future.”
Paris Saint Germain face Chelsey At the conclusion of the tournament in New Jersey on Sunday.
