{"id":1632,"date":"2025-06-23T06:37:03","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T06:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/?p=1632"},"modified":"2025-06-23T06:37:03","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T06:37:03","slug":"juventus-4-wydad-casablanca-1-initial-reaction-and-random-observations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.matteocoachperformance.it\/?p=1632","title":{"rendered":"Juventus 4 – Wydad Casablanca 1: Initial reaction and random observations"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Juventus\u2019 Club World Cup-opening victory over Al Ain this past Wednesday night was very much about the collective of the attacking trio sharing the goal scoring load. Four days later, it was not three players combining to score five goals and leading Juventus to victory.<\/p>\n

Instead, it was Juventus\u2019 No. 10 playing the leading role at the home of the reigning Super Bowl champions.<\/p>\n

On a day when Kenan Yildiz scored a hat trick but only got credit for two of those goals, Juve\u2019s young rising star from Turkiye was the go-to man time and time again. The two goals that he got credit for were two of the best goals we\u2019ve seen a Juventus player score over the past 12 months, with his brace (and shoulda-been hat trick) leading the Bianconeri to a 4-1 win over Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca on a steamy Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia. It was Juventus\u2019 second win by three or more goals in as many games to begin the Club World Cup, giving them a nice potential advantage of goal differential heading into next week\u2019s group stage finale in Orlando assuming Manchester City doesn\u2019t absolutely steamroll Al Ain even more than Juve did in their tournament opener.<\/p>\n

But really, all of that will be figured out before Sunday\u2019s schedule is done and over with.<\/p>\n

For now, I can\u2019t help but remind you about the two words going at Juventus these days:<\/p>\n

Kenan Yildiz.<\/p>\n

Yeah, it\u2019s Yildiz. It\u2019s always going to be Yildiz. With so much else uncertain at the club, there is a 20-year-old star in the making who has become the biggest reason for hope ever since he made his senior team debut a year and a half ago. So much so you\u2019ve already got memes popping up on the internet<\/a> about how important he is to this team in this current moment \u2014 which, on top of being handed the No. 10 jersey while he was still 19 years old, probably isn\u2019t too far form the truth.<\/p>\n

The thing is, Yildiz has shown he\u2019s more than willing to deliver.<\/p>\n

He scored in his first-ever Club World Cup appearance. That is added to the list of scoring in his first Serie A start, in his first Champions League start, in his first Coppa Italia start and his first Supercoppa start. Hell, he probably scored the first time he played as himself when the FIFA video game was still called FIFA on the video game console of his liking. That\u2019s just what he does.<\/p>\n

Against Wydad \u2014 and opponent that very much made this game in Philly feel a little bit like it was being played in Morocco with the atmosphere at Lincoln Financial Field \u2014 Yildiz once against put forth the kind of class we\u2019ve come to expect from him.<\/p>\n

His first goal, although still technically an own goal, was a nifty little finish, even if it did take a rather large deflection. His second goal was an banger if there ever was one, and the sole reason why I got a text from Sam a few weeks ago saying he was going to wait on his Best Goals of the Season list just in case we got something good from the Club World Cup. His third goal, although technically his second, was just so good because he see him pull the brakes on the man marking him, watches him go by, take another little touch to compose himself and then finish it easy.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just the growing repertoire of Yildiz on full display \u2014 and he\u2019s showing that he can hurt you in so many different ways as a goal scorer.<\/p>\n

There of course will be those who said \u201cWell, it\u2019s just Wydad\u201d just as they said \u201cWell, it\u2019s just Al Ain\u201d a few days ago. That\u2019s fine. But let\u2019s not diminish what Yildiz has done to open this tournament no matter who Juventus\u2019 first two opponents have been. It\u2019s not like this Club World Cup group stage was ever going to see Juve play a big-name club every time they stepped onto the field, and facing Al Ain and Wydad in the first two fixtures allowed Yildiz and the entire team to try and get some serious momentum going heading into their meeting with Manchester City to close out the group stage.<\/p>\n

So here we are, through the first two group stage fixtures, and Juve\u2019s got nine goals to their name and have a very good chance of finishing atop Group G with a positive result against City next week.<\/p>\n

This is very much a good development for Juventus no matter how you feel about the Club World Cup on the whole. (And it\u2019s not perfect by any means!) Yildiz coming out and playing the way he has to begin the tournament is a pretty good development, too. These two things are very much connected, but it\u2019s hard not to overstate just how important this young man has become to this club ever since we saw him score that first goal of his against Frosinone right before Christmas in 2023.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s got a little bit of a different look now compared to when he first signed with Juventus<\/a> and was rocking a ponytail in 2022. But the fact that he is truly start to fulfill the massive potential he has in that incredibly strong frame of his \u2014 and it\u2019s becoming a joy to watch.<\/p>\n

No matter if it\u2019s in Serie A, the Champions League or now the Club World Cup \u2014 just keep on scoring those goals, young man and you\u2019ll be doing quite alright.<\/p>\n