Abu Dhabi: Gremio’s fatigue allowed Real Madrid to win the Fifa Club World Cup by small details, according to the Brazilian side’s coach Renato Portaluppi.
A second half free-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo was all that separated the two sides at Zayed Sports City on Saturday.
“Real Madrid played very good and deserved the victory but, although they were better than Gremio, they were not that much more superior,” said Portaluppi.
“Small details made the difference. Two or three of my players weren’t up to their usual level, and against a side like Real everything is more difficult.
“Gremio have played 80 matches this year and that’s a lot for us, now we were down to our last match of the year, and, I am not asking to be forgiven, but we are actually done. We are exhausted at the end of the year and some of my players felt this exhaustion.
“We didn’t have a wonderful game but it’s very difficult to play against a side with the quality of Real. We are very sorry and sad but at the same time we achieved a lot this year, so we also leave with our heads held high,” added the coach, whose side qualified to this competition via last month’s Copa Libertadores victory.
Asked about his pending contract renewal, Portaluppi replied: “Everyone knows I want to remain at Gremio and this is their desire too, but I was focused on this tournament. Now we will go back to Brazil take a deserved rest and talk to see if we can achieve a result. I’m not worried about this at all. I just want to calm down, relax and have a holiday. The whole team is very tired, later on we can discuss these matters.”
Gremio were featuring in their first Club World Cup final but third if you count their earlier exploits in the Intercontinental Cup, which acted as the original club world championship, which they won in 1983 and lost in 1995.
