Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliance saved uninterested Real Madrid the blushes in Club World Cup final

And so to one of Real Madrid’s last 90 minutes of 2016, a somewhat confounding 12 months wherein they went from a perennial crisis to lofty heights under novice coach Zinedine Zidane. The Frenchman’s team is strangely disjointed, yet ruthless in victory.

The Club World Cup final match against Kashima Antlers was another apt example of Madrid’s gooey play this year. The Antlers were the inverse of a La Liga team, who tend to sit back and defend in blocks against their illustrious opponents from the Spanish capital. Not so for the Japanese champions. They were not flustered by Madrid’s ninth-minute lead either. Real Madrid had enjoyed 82% of possession when Kashima’s goalkeeper Hitoshi Sogahata spilled Luka Modric’s dipping strike and Karim Benzema tapped in the rebound.

The Japanese remained composed, played their game and did want to attack. Madrid’s game rapidly descended into a poor showing of lazy, lax and lethargic passing. Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo, they showed little genuine interest in the match. This was, after all, as Zidane had coined it in his pre-match remarks, “a training camp”, a glorified city trip to Yokohama, with a cash price of 4,784,025 euros.

Lacklustre attitude

Kashima exploited Madrid’s lacklustre attitude and capitalised on poor defending just before the break. Shibasaki reacted quicker than Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane to take a touch before flashing a bouncing volley past Navas from close range. As Madrid slumbered, Kashima took the lead. Sergio Ramos hoiked a ball high and Gaku Shibasaki scored with a neat shot.

This was Kashima into major-upset territory, the shock-o-meter going up – shades of their surprising win against Atletico Nacional in the semi-finals surfacing. They had been thoroughly outplayed – in fact, the Colombians put in one of the better performances by a South American representative in the tournament to date but, in the chance game that football ultimately is, the Japanese won 3-0 thanks to luck and the VAR, the Video Assistant Referees.

From a penalty awarded with the aid of video evidence, Kashima took a fortuitous lead – against the run of play. It was a new chapter in football refereeing, but with a controversial launch. On the half-hour mark, referee Viktor Kassai made the signal to indicate that he would conduct an on-field review of footage via the pitch-side monitor after receiving information about a missed incident from Video Assistant Referee Danny Makkelie.

He awarded the penalty, but there was a suspicion that Daigo Nishi had pushed Mosquera first. The goal was a bit farcical. Video technology may not be a panacea – on a first attempt, the VAR seemed to solve as many problems as they created.

VAR controversy

In the final, VAR controversy was never far away. Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe ignored the Kashima players when he pointed to the spot, as replays appeared to show Lucas Vazquez had gone down easily. He should have consulted the VAR after Ramos committed a bookable offense in the dying seconds of the game. Sikazwe jogged over reaching for his pocket, but Ramos ran away and the referee backtracked on his decision as the defender had already been booked.

By then, Real Madrid had equalised through a goal from Ronaldo from the penalty spot and their initial complacency had transformed into a sense of urgency. The final had become an absorbing spectacle, very much unlike previous editions of the Club World Cup climax. This was neither a mismatch nor a drab 90 minutes of European supremacy.

The Antlers came close to toppling Madrid with the last kick of the game. As it was, CR7, the new Ballon d’Or winner, capped a resplendent 2016 with two more goals in extra time. It was hard on the Japanese, who had given the occasion a sense of meaning. The tournament hosts had beaten the champions of Oceania, Africa and South America 7-1 on aggregate to become the first Asian team to reach the competition’s final.

But the winner’s medal was for Zidane and Co., who have gone 36 matches unbeaten. Real Madrid have completed an international treble, winning the Champions League, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup. Los Galacticos are the “champion of champions”, but their path to glory was not straightforward.