Kylian Mbappé at last made his debut at this Club World Cup as the competition entered the knockout phase, coming on to face Juventus two weeks and four games after he was admitted to hospital with a stomach virus that led to him losing five kilos. But while the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami chanted the Frenchman’s name, roaring as he made his way to the halfway line, and stood to hand him an ovation when he entered the fray, the excitement overflowing, it was the kid heading in the other direction, for whom Rita Hayworth is family but most of them had not heard of a month ago, who had taken Real Madrid into the quarter-final.
For all the focus on the most famous names, for all that this month, this experimental event, needs them, every tournament has its revelation: this World Cup has a 21-year-old madrileño. “I knew this competition was the opportunity of my life,” Gonzalo García said after he again showed that it is one he is determined, and equipped, to take hold of. The Real Madrid academy striker, who had never started a game before arriving in the United States, scored his third goal here with a superb thumping header from a delicious Trent Alexander-Arnold delivery, doing what no one else could over 90 minutes here: beating the Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio.
A family of rugby players, bullfighters, and perhaps the most famous actor there ever was – García’s grandfather was Hayworth’s cousin – has a footballer too, and he looks like being some player. Good enough, says the Spain Under-17s coach, Hernán Pérez, to be Madrid’s striker for a decade to come. With the permission of Mbappé, of course. Xabi Alonso likes him, that’s for sure, even if he admitted that he never expected three goals from him, and García has been superb stateside. On a wet but mercifully lightning-free afternoon in Miami, where a Madrid team that are progressing well kept hitting a wall, he was decisive once more, setting up a meeting with Borussia Dortmund – hi Jude, hi Jobe – or Monterrey – hi Sergio Ramos – in the next round.
In the end, Madrid deserved it, far the better side, Alonso praising his team’s ability to understand “when to speed up, when to slow down, how to control the game”. That said, it did take a while to gain control and the early moments of illumination came mostly from another kid, Juventus’s Kenan Yildiz, who combined often with Andrea Cambiaso and Randal Kolo Muani. The 20-year-old – left footed, small, socks half down, backside low – has been described by Kolo Muani as “magic” and there were moments he left his mark here.
He played a key part in what might have been the opener after six minutes, combining with Kolo Muani on a move that began way back by the Juventus penalty area and reached Madrid’s. There, alone before Thibaut Courtois, Kolo Muani scooped over him but fractionally over the bar too. Next a neat turn saw Yildiz’s shot deflected wide, there was the time he slipped the ball between Alexander-Arnold’s legs, and smart footwork later took him away from the former Liverpool defender and Antonio Rüdiger for Cambiaso to cross. From another Cambiaso delivery, Francisco Conceição headed Juve’s second chance at Courtois.
Madrid, playing with three central defenders, had control if not a huge amount of incision in those early phases. As the half went on, though, openings appeared and increasingly often. In the middle of it all, Fede Valverde, as ever, was everywhere firing off shots. By the time he was withdrawn, exhausted, to applause in the 89th minute, the Uruguayan had racked up seven. “He makes life easier,” Alonso said.
From one of them in the first half, Di Gregorio dived full length to save and the keeper would have a busy afternoon, sticking out a leg when Valverde got deep into the area and pulled back soon after. Next Arda Guler, growing into this in the playmaker role that looks increasingly like becoming his permanent place, lifted over his marker and almost got the ball across. Just before the break, Alexander-Arnold did, but his delivery raced right though the six-yard box.
The second half began with Jude Bellingham setting up Valverde’s volley, which skidded and spun just wide. And although Antonio Rüdiger and Courtois kicked each other as they swiped at a clearance, Alonso’s side got on top, soon dominating entirely. Alexander-Arnold fired over, Manuel Locatelli blocked Vinícius Júnior, and Bellingham and Dean Huijsen drew saves from Di Gregorio. Then the goal came, Alexander-Arnold’s lovely soft-shoed cross meeting García’s leap. Turning his neck, he thudded past Di Gregorio who could not fling up his arms fast enough.
Madrid kept coming but the Italian pushed away Valverde’s overhead kick and stuck out a leg to stop Guler’s shot after Vinícius and Mbappé had opened up Juventus. When he reached Aurélien Tchouaméni’s late low drive, it took him into double figures but there was no reward. The one time he was beaten was enough, Madrid’s revelation there again.
