Borussia Dortmund head coach Niko Kovac reiterated that teams from the Southern hemisphere have an advantage at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, but they are here to win games, not complain.
Kovac, after the riveting 4-3 win over Mamelodi Sundowns where they had less ball possession and xG, which got tongues wagging globally – says the weather conditions, is not something they are used to.
The Dortmund substitutes spent the opening half in the dressing room to avoid the sun and blazing heat for the 12:00 kickoff at the TQL Stadium on Saturday.
But for all the debates on heat in the tournament so far – the Brazilians, all five of them, sit on top of their respective groups at the moment – which has left Kovac impressed.
“The conditions are hard for all the teams but the advantage are for sure with the South American teams, and South African ones, who are used to playing in these conditions, for us it’s difficult,” he said.
“The quality [of our play] could be higher but this reason is due to the conditions and we saw the South American teams are very strong with high quality, individually, what surprised me a little is the defensive structure, very organised, very disciplined.
“You see if these combinations come together, South American teams can be very successful here and yeah, let’s see what will happen.
“When you watch back at the national teams, it’s only Germany in 2014, that won a title here on this side of the earth. So it’s hard, but we’re not here to complain, we’re here to win games.”
Dortmund are behind Fluminense on goal difference, with both sides on four points after two games played in Group F at the moment.
