The round of 16 of the Club World Cup will have four teams from Brazil. All representatives of the country in the competition survived the first phase, with greater or lesser difficulty. In the case of Fluminense, who joined the knockout to Flamengo, Botafogo and Palmeiras, it was not easy.
The vacancy was secured on Wednesday afternoon (25), in a 0-0 draw with South Africa Mamelodi Sundowns at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. The result gave the tricolor team the second place of group F, with five points. The lead was the German Borussia Dortmund, who arrived at seven with a 1-0 win over South Korean Ulsan HD.
Renato Gaucho’s men came to confront Mamelodi knowing that a point would be sufficient for the classification. And they were not ashamed to make use of this advantage even in the face of a rival with clear limitations, controlling the duel temperature to advance to the knockout in the United States.
“Sometimes it is better to suffer and get the classification than to want to play [de modo] Beautiful and lose the classification. We reached what we came to, “said Renato, still on the lawn.” Let’s celebrate today, we deserve it. From tomorrow, we start thinking about the next opponent. “
Fluminense will take the field in the round of 16 in a match scheduled for Monday (30), at 16h (Brasília), at Bank of America Stadium. The opponent will be the first place in group E, with definition on Wednesday night – are alive in the key River Plate, Argentina, Internazionale, Italy, and Monterrey, from Mexico.
In front of Mamelodi, the Laranjeiras team did not start well. The opponent exchanged passes with relative freedom in the initial 15 minutes and even created a great chance, passing from Brazilian Lucas Ribeiro to Matthews. Face to face with Fabio, the striker stopped in excellent defense of the 44 -year -old archer.
Throughout the initial stage, tricolor formation was able to balance possession and suffer less. The South African team does not have a firm line of marking and offers spaces. Martinelli saw one of them and offered a good opportunity to Arias, who missed the finishing. Nonato, in rebound, also took danger.
With the score zero in the break, Fluminense tried to take the second half in a water bath. Renato Gaúcho’s team even took danger in two good moves of Arias, but over the minutes, was content to keep the score zero. Mamelodi had control of the ball, but without creativity.
