Manchester City’s head coach, Pep Guardiola, has spoken to the press ahead of their Club World Cup semi-final match against the Urawa Reds.
“It’s a pleasure to be here, an honour,” Guardiola said. “This is Manchester City’s first time in such a competition and we consider it a privilege.”
The coach acknowledged the difficulties of winning such a highly competitive tournament. “We know how hard it is to win this competition. To be here you must have done something special in the past. Winning isn’t easy and the players are aware of this. That’s why we want to play well tomorrow.”
Guardiola was asked about the potential implications of winning the Club World Cup for his club. Though he acknowledged the team’s ambition to secure the trophy, the City manager maintained that they have their sights set on their immediate task first: reaching the final.
“What would it mean to win the Club World Cup?” Guardiola responded, “First and foremost, we have to reach the final to have a shot at this trophy and it’s a challenging semi-final. Of course, we want to win it, as it’s a trophy we don’t have yet. Winning it would close a small circle, in the sense that we’ve won all the tournaments we could possibly win.”
These quotes were obtained during Guardiola’s latest press conference ahead of the upcoming semi-final match.