New Delhi: European champions Paris Saint-Germain thrashed Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami to advance to the Fifa Club World Cup quarters.
Joao Neves scored a brace as PSG brushed aside Miami who lie sixth in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference.
PSG got ahead in the sixth minute as Neves headed in Vitinha’s free-kick from close range in Atlanta on Sunday.
From then on, they never looked back as the Portuguese medio added the second in the 39th minute, finishing a combination move involving Bradley Barcola and Fabian Ruiz.
PSG added two more to kill off the contest Tomas Aviles turned Desire Doue’s cross into his won net while Achraf Hakimi slotted in the fourth in added time of the first half.
The French champions then strolled through the second half despite their former player Messi getting a couple of chances for Miami.
PSG are set to meet either Bayern Munich or Flamengo in their quarter-final on Saturday.
France’s union of professional football players (UNFP) blasted FIFA for arranging the Club World Cup in the heat of USA amid escalating concerns over extreme player workloads.
UNFP noted that it’s “urgent to stop this massacre” that has been undertaken by ignoring the impact of congested calendars on players globally and accused FIFA president Gianni Infantino of living “in an Ivory Tower”.
“The incongruity of the situation is not lost on anyone, except, of course, Gianni Infantino and his flatterers. From the height of his ivory tower, which he parades around the world, the FIFA president is not bothered by the fate that the international calendar reserves for the game’s leading players,” the UNFP said in a statement on Sunday.
“His (Infantino’s) Club World Cup proves, to the point of absurdity, that it is urgent to stop this massacre game. He flouts the physical and mental health of players for a few more dollars.”
The month-long Club World Cup ends on July 13 and is being played in an expanded 32-team format involving the continent’s best clubs. It has been viewed with scepticism as it comes at the end of an already exhausting season, forcing renewed calls to safeguard the safety of players from injuries and burnouts.
“The UNFP, like FIFPRO and FIFPRO Europe, has been protesting for years against the drastic increase in workloads,” the UNFP added.
“But also against the harmful repercussions for domestic football of a calendar that FIFA is still alone in building today.”
UEFA Champions League winner PSG are one of the biggest draws of the tournament with their key players Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue also doing national duty played for France before travelling to USA.
The UNFP pointing that the toll of extra games for PSG’s players could impact the national team in the September international window.
“We don’t see how or why the Parisians should not benefit from the three weeks of complete rest they are entitled to,” the UNFP said.
“A delay in preparation that must also worry (France coach) Didier Deschamps ahead of two qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup. What do you say, Mr. Infantino?,” asked the UNFP.
