Norwegian Marius Høibråten, captain of the Japanese team Urawa Red Diamonds, drew attention before the start of his team's match against Argentine River Plate, after he refrained from shaking hands with the opposing team players, in a behavior that was different from what his teammates did.

Despite all Urawa players shaking hands with River Plate players according to the usual protocol, Høibråten ignored that, which sparked widespread debate on social media, with some questioning the reason for this behavior and whether it was intentional or not.

The player wrote on his Instagram account explaining what happened: "Because it was a new system, I forgot to shake hands with the players, I was confused and isolated, and I didn't understand what to do. So I left without shaking hands, it may have seemed like I didn't care about you or the players. That was never my intention."

He added: "I apologized to the players in the locker room after the match, and I apologize to all of you here now. Congratulations on the win! I wish you all the best in your upcoming matches."

River Plate won against Urawa with a score of 3-1 in the first round of the group stage of the Club World Cup.