The two Brazilian representatives in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup, against Chelsea and Al Hilal, respectively, Palmeiras and Fluminense have in common the fact that they had won, in the early 1950s, the two editions of the Rio Cup.
The competition based in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro brought together teams from South America and Europe and is treated by both clubs as a world title. The duo has been claiming for years with FIFA (International Football Federation) the official recognition of the dispute.
The maximum football entity even caused a certain excitement between the fans of the two teams before the start of the competition in the United States, by disclosing a document that generated mistaken interpretations of the recognition of the worlds.
Organized by CBD (Brazilian Sports Confederation), the first edition of the Rio Cup was in 1951, and featured eight guest teams, champions or state or national deputy.
In addition to Palmeiras and Vasco, champions Paulista and Carioca the year before, came Juventus, Italy, Nice, France, Red Star, Yugoslavia, Sporting, Portugal, Austria Vienna, Austria, and Nacional, from Uruguay.
The final in Maracanã in two matches had the victory of Palmeiras against Juventus de Turin by 3 to 2 on the aggregate score. The reports report that FIFA representatives were present to accompany the disputes.
The second edition would take place in 1953, but ended up anticipated in one year at the request of Fluminense, to coincide with the club’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Tricolor and Corinthians were the Brazilian representatives and had the Uruguayan Peñarol Company, Sporting, Grasshopper, Switzerland, Austria Vienna, Saarbrücken, Germany, and Libertad, from Paraguay.
The final was starred by the two Brazilians, with the victory of Fluminense 4-2 in the aggregate.
The Rio Cup had only two editions and was succeeded in the mid-1960s by the Intercontinental Cup, which began to gather the South American and European champions.
“The story cannot be erased. For us, and for everyone who knows the history of football, Palmeiras is, yes, world champion,” said club president Leila Pereira, in a recent interview with the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In 2017, Alviverde started to use a red star above the emblem, in reference to the achievement.
“The star represents the pride of our history, and the fact that we were the pioneers who put the name of Brazilian football at the top of the world,” said the agent.
Fluminense treats the conquest in the same way, with the allusion to the “world title” in the trophy room.
In 2012, before match for the Brazilian Championship, the captains Marcos Assunção and Fred exchanged tracks with references to the Rio Cup as a world title.
Despite the requests, FIFA has never officialized the achievement as a club World Cup recognized by the entity.
Due to the Club Cup, the entity has prepared a kind of guide to fans who raised doubts about the status of the Rio Cup titles.
In the document, she listed the trophies of all teams and, in referring to both titles, included competitions in the “Inter-Confederations Cup” classification. The same term was used to designate the Intercontinental Cup and the Club World Cup, with its champions recognized as world champions.
From there, many came to believe that the tournaments won by Palmeiras and Fluminense would also have this status. But that didn’t happen. Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca also appears in the guide with a title of “Inter-Confederations Cup” for winning the 1993 Afro-Asian Championship, but it is not recognized as world champion.
FIFA acknowledged that there was an error in the production of the guide and withdrew the material from the air.
To have a World Cup recognized by the entity, Palmeiras de Abel Ferreira faces Chelsea – current champion of the Conference League – in a 2021 World Cup rematch, when he lost 2-1, with a penalty goal at the end of the second half of the extension.
Having eliminated Botafogo in the previous phase, Alviverde has three important embezzlement for the decisive departure against the English-Captain Gustavo Gómez and left-back Piquerez, suspended by cards, and defender Murilo, who suffered injury in the last group stage match against Inter Miami.
From the holder defensive line, only right-back Giay will be available. The defender should be formed by Bruno Fuchs and Micael, a duo who arrived at the club earlier this year, while the base-offshore of Base Vanderlan takes on his left-back.
In the attack, Paulinho, author of the goal against Botafogo and still far from the best physical conditions, should follow as an option in the bank, with hopes in front of Estevão, elected the best of the game twice – Contra Porto and Al Ahly – and that goes to Chelsea at the end of the competition.
Fluminense by coach Renato Gaúcho bets on the experience of grooves to pass by Al Hilal, who also surprised to leave Manchester City.
At 44 and 40, Fábio and Thiago Silva – election for the team’s final round of 16 – are the two eldest players in the World Cup.
The team also has the top scorer Germán Cano, 37, author of the first goal in the victory against Inter Milan, and Jhon Arias, 27, elected the best of the match three times – Borussia, Ulsan and Internazionale.
The only embezzlement will be from left-back Renê, who received the second yellow against the Italians and fulfills suspension. Holder against Ulsan, the Colombian Fuentes must take the position.
The team can also count on the reinforcement of Soteldo, who arrived from Santos with a left thigh injury, but has already trained with the group.
According to the projections of OPTA Analyst, a sports statistics company, Fluminense has 40.2% likely to advance to the semifinals. Palmeiras is victorious from the confrontation against Chelsea in only 25.2% of the simulations.
