Guardiola: It is an honour to coach Ribery

The Bayern Munich boss has hailed the
Frenchman's willingness to track back and
make sacrifices for the team and is eagerly
anticipating Saturday's Club World Cup final
Pep Guardiola says he feels honoured to coach
Franck Ribery after the France international
helped Bayern Munich into the Club World Cup
final on Tuesday.
Ribery scored the opening goal in Bayern's 3-0
semi-final win over Guangzhou Evergrande,
with Mario Mandzukic and Mario Gotze also
finding the net in Agadir, and Guardiola had
nothing but praise for the Ballon d'Or
nominee after the final whistle.
"For me it is an honour to be Ribery's coach,"
the Bayern boss said.
"Franck has an unbelievable heart to play this
game and is humble enough to track back up
to 40 metres time and time again, to follow his
opponent and help the team.
"For me it is an honour to be able to train
him."
Bayern scored three goals in the space of
seven minutes either side of the break to
progress to the final of the Club World Cup
and will now play either Raja Casablanca or
Atletico Mineiro in Saturday's final.
"I am so, so happy for the players, Jupp
Heynckes and the club to play the final next
Saturday and I hope to bring this title to
Germany for the first time," Guardiola
continued.
"We have to prepare our head and our legs as
soon as possible. The most important thing is
to know we have a unique opportunity in our
lives to play this final.
"It is not easy to be here, it is so difficult to
try to become the best team in the world. So it
is a good challenge for us and good
preparation. Raja or Mineiro are going to play
as well as possible to win this title."
The final is scheduled to take place in
Marrakech on Saturday.