Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund Claim First Wins At Club World Cup

NDTV

6 hours ago

Inter Milan came from behind to beat Urawa Red Diamonds and knock the Japanese side out of the Club World Cup on Saturday, while Borussia Dortmund held off Mamelodi Sundowns to win a seven-goal thriller. At Lumen Field in Seattle, Ryoma Watanabe got an early opening goal for Urawa Reds, who were backed by a noisy contingent of their supporters. But captain Lautaro Martinez -- who got Inter's equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Monterrey of Mexico in their opening game -- repeated the trick to level matters with a clever overhead kick 12 minutes from time.
Valentin Carboni was then the unlikely hero as he grabbed the winner two minutes into injury time.
The 20-year-old Argentine had not played a competitive game since early October after suffering a serious knee injury while on loan at Marseille.
Carboni had not made an appearance for Inter in over two years, but he was on to hand to sidefoot home when the ball fell to him in the area.
"Our opponents play with their hearts and to counter that as a team we need to play with more pride, be humble and know how to suffer," Martinez told broadcaster DAZN after Inter were made to work for the victory.
The result left Inter provisionally top of Group E on four points, one point ahead of River Plate before the Argentinian giants faced Monterrey later in Pasadena.
Meanwhile a second defeat in as many matches means Urawa Reds are eliminated, and many of their supporters were in tears at full-time.
"Our emotion is very bad after this game. We are out of the tournament so now we can only fight in the last game to achieve our one and only win," said their Polish coach Maciej Skorza.
- Bellingham strikes -
Earlier Jobe Bellingham got his first goal for Dortmund as his new club overcame stifling heat in Cincinnati to beat Sundowns 4-3 and move to four points from two matches in Group F.
The South African champions had taken a surprise early lead through a fine solo goal from Lucas Ribeiro.
However, Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams handed Dortmund their equaliser on a plate, passing the ball straight to Felix Nmecha, who stroked home.
Serhou Guirassy gave Dortmund the lead with his 35th goal since the beginning of the season.
English midfielder Bellingham, who this month followed older brother Jude's footsteps in joining the German side from Sunderland, started for the first time for Dortmund and made it 3-1 just before the break.
Khuliso Mudau's own goal made it 4-1 before the hour mark, but Sundowns salvaged some pride by reducing the deficit through Iqraam Rayners and Lebo Mothiba.
"I'm sweating like I've just come out of a sauna," said Dortmund coach Niko Kovac when asked about the conditions in a game which started at midday local time.
"It was tough going for both teams, but the opposition are used to it. We certainly didn't give our best performance, but that wasn't possible today."
Sundowns will still go into their final game in Group F with a chance of qualifying for the last 16.
"The boys made a wonderful performance... it was a hell of a match. I'm not happy but very proud," said their Portuguese coach, Miguel Cardoso.
Fluminense, who held Dortmund 0-0 in their first match, took on Ulsan of South Korea at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford in the other Group F game later on Saturday.