Almost all the players of Fluminense and his coach Renato Gaúcho used the expression “head up” after the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Club World Cup semifinals. The tone was of appreciation of the surprising campaign in the United States, but there were also complaints.
“In my opinion, it was a penalty. There are referees who give this penalty, there are referees who do not give. They will say, ‘Oh, the arm was glued to the body.’ No, the arm was not glued to the body. And it would change the course of the match,” Renato said, referring to a 35-minute throw at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford.
At that moment, with the score pointing 1-0 to Chelsea, Renê crossed the left. Thiago Santos tried to head and did not hit the ball, which stopped in the left arm of Trevoh Chalobah. Judge François Letexier begged the penalty, but called to the monitor by the video referee, Polish Tomasz Kwiatkowski, changed his mind.
“The defender was in a natural position,” said Letexier, through the stadium sound system, justifying his final decision. Fluminense would not return to swing the net at the World Cup and, with another goal conceded in the second half, one of his former player João Pedro, said goodbye to competition in the United States.
“We have to look at what they did and go with headdress up. Not even the most optimistic fans could imagine that we could reach the semifinals,” said defender and captain Thiago Silva. “Of course it is sad. We wanted to reach the final of the championship, but gave our best. It is congratulated Chelsea for the game they made,” agreed midfielder Nonato.
Fluminense was not pointed out among the world’s favorites, but with a lower investment capacity than those of Flamengo, Palmeiras and Botafogo, it was the Brazilian who advanced the most. In the first phase, he had a victory (against Ulsan HD) and two draws (Borussia Dortmund and Mamelodi Sundowns). In the knockout, he defeated Inter Milan, European runner-up, and Al Hilal.
Neither the beautiful campaign or its prize (US $ 60.8 million, or R $ 331.9 million, in the current price) made defeat for Jhon Arias. Main player of the tricolor team, the striker cried a lot on the lawn in East Rutherford and was comforted by companions and members of the coaching staff.
“It’s a feeling of frustration. We were very close to our great goal, our big dream. We left a competition that gave us a lot of expectation. It is apologizing for not getting our goal. We fought to the end, we gave everything on the pitch, I’m thrilled.”
