The Club World Cup sounds like a big, important event, and in a way it is. Virtually every club in the world is technically eligible for the competition, from the mighty teams of Europe to the smallest of the Pacific islands.
The team that wins each December is, nominally at least, the world champion of clubs.
Barcelona played the Asian champion, Guangzhou Evergrande of China, in the semifinal on Thursday in Yokohama, Japan, winning 3-0 on a hat trick by Luis Suárez. But even many Barça fans probably did not take much notice.
Indeed, there was more talk about events off the field than on.