The two concepts were born amid acrimony, out of avarice and would shoehorn extra demands into an already congested calendar, and yet Sir Alex Ferguson's views on the 39th game and the Fifa Club World Cup are as diametrically opposed as his feelings for Manchester United and Manchester City. One is the progressive global force opening new frontiers, the other a money-driven irritation. No prizes for guessing which.
"I don't think there will ever be a 39th game and I don't believe there should be," said Ferguson on the Premier League's controversial proposals yesterday in Japan, where United have diverted in an attempt to become the first British club to win the Club World Cup in its current form. "You look at our domestic programme allied to our cup competitions. It is impossible."
An 11,728-mile round trip to play two matches in a competition with arguably less appeal to the British public than the Carling Cup, however, is a workload Ferguson is only too happy to shoulder. And he sees no contradiction in stating so.
"It's an achievement to just be involved in the Club World Cup," the United manager said. "We're the only British team to have won it and I consider that to be one of the club's greatest achievements. There's now a different focus on the tournament and it's good that teams from Africa, Asia and elsewhere take part. You can't stop progress and this is a progressive step. The quality of the game has improved tremendously all over the world. "
The tournament has undergone a fundamental makeover since Roy Keane secured United victory over Palmeiras in the Inter-Continental Cup of 1999. Then it was an annual contest between the champions of Europe and South America. Now the champions of Africa, Oceania, Asia (plus the Asia runners-up, Adelaide United of Australia) and North, Central America & the Caribbean (Concacaf) stage an eight-game event over 10 days with the victor decided in Yokohama on Sunday.
United and their South American counterparts, Liga de Quito, the first club from Ecuador to win the Copa Libertadores when they beat Fluminense on penalties at the Maracana, have received byes into the semi-finals. Ferguson's team meet Gamba Osaka tomorrow and their final (or third-place play-off) opponent will be decided between Liga de Quito and Pachuca of Mexico today.
The fanaticism of the Japanese audience is a stark contrast to the laissez-faire attitude of fans from the Champions League superpowers towards the Club World Cup, although not with the European managers involved. A knockout tournament to christen a world champion appeals to Ferguson's undiminished competitive instinct. With $5m (£3.4m) out of a total prize fund of $16.5m going to the winner, success comes at an attractive price too.
