The opening week of Fifa's Club World Cup in the United States has at times felt more like pre-season warm ups for the clubs involved rather than a serious competition featuring some of the top clubs in the world. However, despite the oppressive heat there have been some decent games and things are expected to pick up when it gets to the business end of this four-week tournament.
Some fans regard this competition as an unnecessary event dreamed up by Fifa simply to make money. In Europe, supporters have just seen their clubs finish a long season and find it hard to get engaged in yet another competition. South American fans, however, are much more enthusiastic.
The bottom line is that there are huge financial rewards for clubs taking part, making it worthwhile despite the obvious fear of player fatigue and injuries.
Some find it strange that Premier League winners Liverpool are not in the tournament which features 32 clubs. The Reds were omitted because only two teams from each country are allowed and Chelsea and Manchester City had already booked their places by virtue of winning the Champions League in recent seasons.
Likewise Spanish champions Barcelona have also missed out with the two places going to Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid who have won the competition five times.
On the pitch itself it has been something of a mixed bag partly due to the torrid weather in the afternoon kick-offs. The mismatch which saw Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich trounce New Zealand part-timers Auckland City 10-0 was not a good advertisement. Such one-sided games are no fun to watch. The only surprise was that Harry Kane didn't score.
The relatively sparse crowd that witnessed Chelsea's laboured 2-0 win over Los Angeles FC did not go unnoticed by the British press with headlines emphasizing "empty seats." The Atlanta venue was not even half full with an attendance of 22,137 in the stadium that has a 75,000 capacity. However, they were probably lucky to get that many as the game kicked off at 3pm on a Monday afternoon when most people were at work.
Many games are also being played in huge stadiums which are unlikely to be filled to capacity in the group stages.
The lowest gate so far was for the encounter between South Korea's Ulsan and South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns where less than 3,500 spectators watched the game in Orlando, Florida. Attendances at most of the other games were okay.
The liveliest match in the early games was the 2-2 draw between Boca Juniors and Benfica which saw three red cards and some wild tackles as the Argentine side threw away a 2-0 half-time lead at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium.
There have been a few surprise results. Trent Alexander-Arnold's much anticipated debut for Real Madrid saw the Spanish side held to a 1-1 draw by Saudi club Al Hilal in sweltering Miami. The former Liverpool star had a "quiet" game which is understandable considering the intense scrutiny he has been under.
Mexican side Monterrey did well to hold Champions League runners-up Inter Milan to a 1-1 stalemate. As for PSG, they overcame the conditions in Pasadena to sweat their way past Atletico 4-0 and lose 0-1 to Botafogo.
Manchester City impressed with a 2-0 win over Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca in a game which saw Phil Foden back to his best.
Hopefully as the competition gets more intense it will be matched by fewer empty seats.