February 8 – In one of the biggest upsets in the tournament’s history, Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal stunned 10-man Flamengo to reach the Club World Cup final with a 3-2 victory over South America’s Copa Libertadores champions on Tuesday.
The first Saudi side to reach final, they will face the winners of Real Madrid’s semi-final against Egypt’s Al Ahly today in Rabat.
The Brazilians had come into the semi-final as favorites and with all the bravura of a club ready to take on Real Madrid in the final. But when Salem Al-Dawasari, a star for Saudi Arabia against Argentina at the World Cup, score from the penalty spot early on, the writing was perhaps on the wall.
A second penalty from Al Dawsari and a close-range strike from Luciano Vietto did for Flamengo, the fourth Brazilian side to lose a Club World Cup semi-final and who were shown four yellow cards in the first half alone including two resulting in the sending off of Gerson.
“When the team loses, something is always missing. It wasn’t due to lack of will or dedication. We didn’t find good ways to attack and make our best match,’ said Flamengo midfielder Everton Ribeiro. ‘Unfortunately we didn’t get the result we wanted the most, the victory.’
“We played against a fantastic team with a fantastic coach,” said David Luiz. “We tried to fight and we had the will until the end. I sincerely think the referee was not at the proper level – firstly the yellow cards, too many of them and that put a lot of pressure on the defensive players like me. I will not comment about the penalties because I did not see them. For me it serves as a lesson we have to fight now for the third place.”
Flamengo’s Portuguese manager Vitor Pereira blamed the result on the refereeing, which he claimed, was totally one sided.
“We were ready to play Al Hilal but were not ready for a refereeing that was not up to the standards of the competition,” Pereira told a news conference.
“It was provocative refereeing and if it weren’t for the personality of our players, I’m convinced that we would end the game with more red cards.”
It is not the first time Brazilian hopes have come to a premature end. In the previous edition of the Club World Cup, Tigres of Mexico defeated Palmeiras of Sao Paulo 1-0 to end South American hopes. But for Flamengo the result is even more damning. The club has become a powerhouse at home in recent years and the Club World Cup is considered the holy grail, even more important than the Copa Libertadores, the Conmebol stepping stone to the global tournament.
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