Fluminense book Club World Cup semi-final place with win over Al-Hilal

Brazil’s Fluminense continued their fairytale run at the Club World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal on Friday in Orlando to book their place in the semi-finals.

The tournament underdogs struck first through Matheus Martinelli in the opening half before Al-Hilal hit back after the break when Marcos Leonardo found the net.

But Fluminense refused to be denied and regained their lead in the 70th minute through Hércules to secure a memorable win over Al-Hilal in the first meeting between the two clubs.

“If you asked me a while ago whether we would reach this stage, a semi-final, I wouldn’t say I wouldn’t believe it because I believe in everything that I do, but it was so far away from us,” said the captain Thiago Silva. The Brazilian side, who entered the tournament as one of the biggest long shots, will now face the winners of Friday’s other quarter-final clash between Palmeiras and Chelsea.

Fluminense opened the scoring when João Cancelo failed to clear his line, allowing Gabriel Fuentes to roll the ball to Martinelli who brilliantly picked out the far post with a left-footed strike into the top right corner.

“Many people didn’t believe in our potential, in our team but each game and each step we proved we can be tough,” said Martinelli, who will miss the semi-final after picking up a yellow card shortly after his goal. When we step on the pitch it’s difficult to beat our team.”

During first-half stoppage time, a rising Kalidou Koulibaly headed the ball on target but a fully-stretched Fabio used his left hand to swat it away and keep Fluminense in front.

Al-Hilal made a quick start to the second half and drew level after a cushioned header from a wide-open Koulibaly hit the legs of Leonardo, who quickly reset his feet and fired home from close range.

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Moments later, Fluminense’s Samuel Xavier looked to have tripped Leonardo in the area, prompting the referee to immediately point to the spot, but after a VAR review it was considered “normal football contact” and the call was reversed.

Fluminense nearly restored their lead in the 55th minute when German Cano broke free but rather than shooting he tried to take the ball around Yassine Bounou and the Moroccan goalkeeper managed to poke away the ball.

Hércules, who scored off the bench in the last-16 win over Inter Milan, came in for Martinelli after the break and struck again when he took a brilliant touch into the area and fired into the bottom corner.

“I really want to congratulate my squad for the way that they played, they poured their hearts out on the pitch tonight,” said the Al-Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi. “And of course we are sorry but we need to be proud.”

The match began with players and fans observing a minute’s silence in memory of Liverpool’s Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his younger brother Andre Silva, who both died in a car crash on Thursday.

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