A Juventus delegation may have experienced an uncomfortable time when they visited US President Donald Trump at the White House, but hours later they hit cruise control for 45 minutes to help breeze past Al-Ain FC.
The loanee pair of Francisco Conceicao and Kolo Muani each bagged a brace, with Turkish talent Kenan Yildiz also making the scoresheet, in what became a flattering 5-0 result against the UAE Pro League club.
Juventus took to the Audi Field in Washington D.C. eager to pick up maximum points after Manchester City had seen off Wydad AC 2-0 inside the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Trump, who signed an executive order banning transgender participants from women’s sports in February, asked the Juve entourage at The White House: “Could a woman make your team, fellas?”
He asked the question again as there was simply no response.
Damien Comolli, the recently installed Juve general manager, responded: “We have a very good women’s team.”
Trump added: “But they should be playing with women.”
Juventus players saved their talking for the pitch. There was a massive number of Juve jerseys sported by many of the enthusiastic 18,000 supporters inside the stadium, mainly because the Turin titans boast US internationals Weston McKennie and Timothy Weah.
US fans got the opportunity to constantly cheer on skipper McKennie, who was booked after only five minutes for an overzealous tackle on Park Yong-Woo, and second-half substitute Weah.
First blood
The 36-time Italian champions broke the deadlock against the run of play, having been on the back foot from the first whistle.
Michele Di Gregorio saved Facundo Zabala’s shot, and on the counterattack Paris Saint-Germain outcast Muani headed Alberto Costa’s cross into the top left corner for an 11th-minute lead.
Juve performed the same trick 10 minutes later, thanks to some magic from Conceicao, with another counterattack after Di Gregorio was equal to Soufiane Rahimi’s effort.
FC Porto winger Conceicao picked up a pass from Costa and polished off a dizzying dribble into the box to beat former Portugal international keeper Rui Patricio, albeit courtesy of a deflection.
Yildiz's miss
On the half-hour mark Yildiz, Juve’s most prized possession, slotted the ball past 38-year-old Patricio and into the bottom left corner. He should have added another goal, but from a tricky angle screwed his shot wide of the gaping goalmouth.
Yildiz almost redeemed himself for his miss on the stroke of half-time, sending in a cross that Lloyd Kelly headed straight at Patricio.
The Bianconeri completed the first-half rout with a stoppage time strike from Muani, steering the ball past Patricio and into the bottom left corner from close range.
Second-half let down
Tudor, recently appointed on a permanent basis, made half-time changes with Douglas Luiz replacing Thuram and Weah coming on for yellow-carded Andrea Cambiaso.
Juve initially looked disjointed following the switches, Kodjo Laba forcing a Di Gregorio save and Zabala skying his shot over the target during the early exchanges.
Kouame Autonne had a goal disallowed for offside for the UAE side before Conceicao snatched a 58th-minute goal, following Juve’s brief attacking spell, once again requiring a deflection to beat the keeper.
Tudor tried to tweak the balance by hauling off Yildiz for Teun Koopmeiners to no avail.
Tactical changes
With Juve still stuttering along, severely lacking their free-flowing first-half runs and confidence, Tudor made a double substitution with less than 20 minutes remaining.
Two players that could depart this summer arrived, Dusan Vlahovic came on for Muani while Federico Gatti replaced Nicolo Savona.
There was some last-gasp goalmouth action. Di Gregorio prevented Nassim Chadli’s long-range shot from nestling into the bottom right corner.
Then Weah twice set up Luiz, who blasted his first chance wide and in stoppage time was denied by the left post.
Improvements needed
Following a fantastic first half by Juve, their second 45 minutes proved to be a let down and they will need to up their game when tackling Morocco giants Wydad AC.
Tudor said after the victory: “You don't go to The White House every day, so it was a real pleasure to go there.
“[In the match] We did a number of excellent things, we played at a good tempo... all things considered it is a good start.”
JUVENTUS: Di Gregorio - Kelly, Savona (Gatti, 71), Kalulu - Cambiaso (Weah, 45), Thurum (Luiz, 45), McKennie, Costa - Yildiz (Koopmeiners, 62), Conceicao - Muani (Vlahovic, 71). Subs: Locatelli, Gonzalez, Adzic, Kostic, Pinsoglio, Rugani, Rouhi, Daffara, Mbangula, Garofani.