Jose Maria Callejon and Mesut Ozil each scored first half goals as Real Madrid cruised to a 2-1 victory over Philadelphia Union in a friendly game on Saturday.
It was Real Madrid’s third win, with no losses, in the so-called World Football Challenge, which features North American teams playing visiting European clubs.
Real Madrid started their North American tour with an easy 4-1 win over David Beckham’s Los Angeles Galaxy. Then Cristiano Ronaldo led the way with three goals as the La Liga giants blanked Chivas Guadalajara 3-0 in their second game.
“I think that clubs in the MLS are much better,” Real Madrid midfielder Kaka said. “I was impressed with the Union. They played very well. They gave us a tough match. They’re a very good team.
“It wasn’t easy. We were happy to win this match. They played very good in the second half.”
Michael Farfan scored the lone goal for Philadelphia in the 80th minute in front of a crowd of 57,305 at the Lincoln Financial Field.
“It was a good match for us after we came out a bit slow,” Farfan said. “I don’t think we were nervous. I wasn’t. We got behind and then played well in the second half. I think we gained a lot of confidence from that second half.”
This was the first game in which former World Player of the Year Ronaldo did not score for the Spanish club.
Ronaldo played the second half after sitting out the first 45 minutes.
Callejon scored in the second minute and Ozil scored in the 11th to make it 2-0.
“The Union hung in there and took it to us,” Kaka said. “I thought they played with a lot of intensity in the second half and we didn’t take advantage of our chances like we could have.”
The Union defeated English Premier League side Everton FC 1-0 on Wednesday.
The World Football Challenge has proven to be a one-sided affair with the Major League Soccer clubs losing all five games so far, having been outscored 15-5.
