"The club World Cup will be similar to a national team World Cup"

Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal told FIFA in an interview on Thursday that he believes the first Club World Cup to be held in the United States between June and July "will be a great success."

The Los Blancos player, who is in the final stages of his recovery from a serious injury, gave his opinion on a competition that his team will play in and which will start in Group H alongside clubs such as Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia, Pachuca of Mexico and Salzburg of Austria.

"I think it's going to be very good. I imagine it will be similar to a World Cup because the whole country will live the tournament with a lot of intensity. I think it's going to be a success," he said.

For Carvajal, the tournament will be special because of the mix of different styles of play, leagues and continents and he recalled that this season Real Madrid have already faced Pachuca (in the Intercontinental Cup) and Salzburg (in the Champions League).

"So we have a bit of experience playing against them. We are looking forward to June 18 to play our first game against Al-Hilal," he said.

Asked about America's relationship with sport, he said it is a country where "people follow a lot of people with passion" and noted that he personally likes the NBA a lot.

"And as for my favourite American athlete, I would say it's LeBron James. For those of us who follow basketball from here, I think he is a real inspiration," he concluded.