São Paulo – Over 42,000 fans packed the Ibn Battuta stadium in Tangier, Morocco, to watch the Club World Cup semifinals this Tuesday (7). The men’s football match between Brazil’s Flamengo and Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal was heated until the very last minute of additional time.
In the end, Al Hilal beat the team from Rio de Janeiro 3-2 and will advance to the final to face off the winner of this Wednesday’s (8) match between Spain’s Real Madrid and Egypt’s Al Ahly.
Player Pedro scored Flamengo’s two goals in the 20th minute of the first half and in the second half’s additional time, bringing hope to the red-and-black team trying to come back from a bitter 3-1.
Al Hilal scored two goals from penalties, both by Salem Al-Dawari. The first was only four minutes into the match. A foul at the end of the first half resulted in a red card for Flamengo player Gerson and the second penalty in favor of the Saudi team.
Al Hilal’s final score came from Luciano Vietto in the middle of the second half and secured the victory for the Arab team.
The FIFA Club World Cup final will take place at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, this Saturday (11) at 8:00 pm WEST (4:00 pm BRT).
The match for third place, between Flamengo and the loser of Wednesday’s game, will occur just before, also on Saturday, at 4:30 pm WEST (12:30 pm BRT), at the same stadium.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
