ONE player took his commitment to another level when he missed the birth of his first child to play in the Club World Cup.
Urawa Red Diamond’s defender Marius Hoibraten may regret his choice now as his side were knocked out by Man City after he netted an own goal to open the scoring.
The 28-year-old turned the ball into his own net in the 45th minute when Matheus Nunes tried to play a ball into the box.
And Hoibraten looked crestfallen as he watched the net ripple and saw the Japanese outfit’s hard work undone by his error.
The Norwegian centre-back had favoured the tournament over being at home with his partner to welcome their first born child.
He instead witnessed the event via Facetime before jetting home for just 12 hours to see his fiancee Solveig and their new son.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
Luckily for him he will be heading home earlier than expected to spend some more time with his new born after City denied Urawa a place in the final.
Pep Guardiola’s side breezed the second half as they added two more goals to see the match end 3-0.
It was Mateo Kovacic and Bernardo Silva who piled more misery on top of Hoibraten’s own goal in the first half.
The Cityzens are now just one game away from making history as they prepare for the Club World Cup final in Saudi Arabia this Friday.
Most read in Football
FREE BETS – BEST BETTING OFFERS & NEW CUSTOMER BONUSES
The treble winners will face Brazilian side Fluminense who secured their spot in the final with a 2-0 win over Al Ahly.
And they’ll have to beat the South Americans without terrific trio Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Kevin de Bruyne.
Despite making the trip out to the Middle East with the squad the three superstars are all unavailable due to Fifa rules forbidding any player who did not feature in the semi-final matchday squad from playing in the final.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
