- Tigres started FIFA Club World Cup campaign by going a goal behind
- Andre-Pierre Gignac brace turned the game around
- “These matches are decided by details”
Tigres UANL got off to a shaky start in their FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2020™ opener against Ulsan Hyundai, falling behind after just 24 minutes courtesy of a powerful header by Kim Keehee.
Despite this rude awakening, it was the Mexican side that were smiling at the final whistle thanks to, who else but, Andre-Pierre Gignac. The Frenchman delivered the two goals that allowed Los Felinos to turn the game around before half-time and progress to the semi-finals, where they will face Brazil’s Palmeiras on 7 February.
And if that were not enough, Gignac’s opening strike, steered in from close range after Diego Reyes flicked a corner into his path, was the 400th goal in Club World Cup history, another impressive statistic in the striker’s glittering career.
What they said
“These matches are decided by details. They opened the scoring from a corner before we equalised the same way, and it was from another corner that they handled for our penalty. That’s what these games are like – there are no easy opponents. We’re at a world championship, so the most important was winning tonight. That was our objective, because we know we’re capable of making history and want to do so.
“Every match is different but tonight we faced a really good team. The Koreans played a great game and had big, strong players – I was expecting them to be smaller in stature. They were also very good on the ball. Now we have to face a different kind of opponent in Palmeiras, so we’re going to analyse them to see what we can do against them.”
Andre-Pierre Gignac
“A lot of people thought this was going to be an easy match, but, as I said previously, we’re not a team that underestimates anyone. Our opponents played very good football and had done their homework, but we managed to win. We don’t take any opponent lightly, but nor do we build teams up to be bigger than they are. That’s our mindset. We know what Palmeiras represent and that they’re Libertadores champions, which I know all about, being a Brazilian. We’ll confront them like we did Ulsan. With respect; no more, no less.”
Ricardo Ferretti, Tigres coach
Gignac, in five numbers
Gignac is used to racking up big numbers. Today he grabbed the 400th goal in the competition’s history, but there are several other stats that attest to the greatness of the French marksman.