ABU DHABI, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Thirty-four years after leading Brazil's Gremio to the world club title as a player, Renato Portaluppi has a chance to do the same as a coach. The mass exodus of South American players to Europe had not started and the contest was evenly-balanced. Nowadays, the Club World Cup is an unwieldy seven-team tournament organised by global soccer body FIFA and dominated by European clubs. Gremio, however, may at least have a better shot than some of their predecessors thanks to a tweak in the South American calendar. Previously, South American teams would often have sold their best players by the time the Club World Cup came around six months after the Libertadores final.

Source: Economic Times December 08, 2017 02:03 UTC