
Fluminense Gets Early Goal From Germán Cano To Knock Out Inter Milan In Club World Cup Round Of 16
The Brazilians move on to face the Manchester City–Al-Halil winner on Friday in Orlando, Florida. Almost before both teams were able to break a sweat in the 90-degrees Fahrenheit heat, Jhon Arias sent a slightly deflected crossing pass from the right corner that Cano headed into the net for a 1–0 lead. The Brazilians appeared to add to their lead late in the first half, but Ignacio's header into the net was waived off due to being offside. Hercules added a late wide-open goal in stoppage time for the final 2–0 margin. Milan controlled the time of possession throughout the match and certainly had its chances, but couldn't will the ball into the net. It was one bad bounce after another. As the match was winding down, Fluminense players jumped up and down on the sideline. That celebration carried over to the field after the match, where they hopped up and down in unison in a huddle, their arms wrapped around each other.
Key moment: Lautaro Martinez had a point-blank shot in the second half to tie the game, but the ball hit off the upright. He couldn't believe his bad luck and shook his head in disbelief.
Takeaways: Fluminense played more poised throughout the match and became the second Brazilian club team to reach the quarterfinals, joining Palmeiras.
Noteworthy: The match was not well attended. Stadium officials invited patrons from the upper deck to come sit down in the lower deck, which was still half empty.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia's great football experiment is paying off
MANCHESTER, England: The great Saudi Arabian football experiment is on full show at the Club World Cup. For the latest updates, follow us @ArabNewsSport The Kingdom, which is spending billions of dollars to become a major player in the world's most popular sport, scored a big win on the field Monday when Al-Hilal beat Premier League giants Manchester City 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinals. It was a seismic result in football terms; possibly the biggest upset of the tournament and precisely the type of statement Saudi Arabia has wanted to make since embarking on a project that will ultimately see it stage the World Cup in 2034. 'We wanted to show that Al-Hilal has the talent, the power to be here,' said defender Kalidou Koulibaly, who was among a slew of star players paid fortunes to leave Europe's top clubs for the Saudi Pro League in recent years. Superstar signings and ones that got away The biggest of them all was Cristiano Ronaldo, who completed one of the most stunning moves in football history when joining Al-Nassr for a reported salary of up to $200 million a year in 2022. That deal prompted a spectacular recruitment drive by Saudi teams — backed by the Kingdom's sovereign wealth fund — and in came superstars like Neymar and Karim Benzema, while audacious attempts were made to sign Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe. Confirmation that Saudi Arabia had won the right to host the World Cup came in December. On the field, the Club World Cup was the first chance for the country to make a global statement about the growth of its domestic game, which is largely unheralded outside of Asia. It is likely why Al-Hilal — Saudi Arabia's most successful team — were so eager to make another marquee signing before the tournament began and tried, but failed, to lure Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes. They pulled off a coup by hiring coach Simone Inzaghi. The Italian arrived after leading Inter Milan to a second Champions League final in three seasons and he is already making a mark with his new team after drawing 1-1 against Real Madrid in the group stage and then beating City. 'We had to do something extraordinary because we knew how good Manchester City are, we knew we had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen, and we were great,' Inzaghi said. Saudi football has faced doubts The broader picture is what Al-Hilal's run says about the standard of football in Saudi Arabia, which has been dismissed by some as a cash grab for players, who can earn far more than if they'd remained in Europe. 'Let's see now if they will criticize us after these games,' said midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who joined Al-Hilal from Italian team Lazio. 'It's not like how they are speaking about the league.' Despite recruiting so many players from Europe's top clubs — including Champions League winners N'Golo Kante, Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino — it is difficult to judge the quality of the Saudi league. To put Al-Hilal's run into context: While they may have won a record 19 league titles and four Asian championships, they are not the Saudi Arabia's reigning national champion, having been beaten to the title by Benzema's Al-Ittihad last season. Another Saudi team, Al-Ahli, who count former Liverpool forward Firmino and ex-Manchester City winger Mahrez among their players, won the Asian Champions League this year. Ronaldo, meanwhile, is yet to win the title in three attempts with Al-Nassr — pointing to the depth of strength in the league. Al-Hilal's performances have also come despite releasing Brazil great Neymar in January and with leading scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic having played no part so far because of injury. Can Al Hilal win the Club World Cup? The question now is how far Al-Hilal can go. Next up is Brazil's Fluminense in the quarterfinals in Orlando on Friday. City's exit — along with Inter Milan's defeat to Fluminense — has opened up that side of the draw, which also features Palmeiras and Chelsea. On paper it looks like the favorable side of the draw, with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain on the other side. But the success of Brazilian teams has been another theme of the tournament and Al-Hilal will have to beat at least one more if they are to advance to the final. Inzaghi, however, is used to overachieving. His two Champions League finals with Inter Milan came despite having an aging team and relying on savvy deals in the transfer market to pick up free agents and veteran players. Inter's victory against Barcelona in the semifinals of this year's competition was one of the all-time classic contests — winning 7-6 on aggregate. Al-Hilal's impressive run has come after Inzaghi spent just one week training with the team before the tournament. Even if they are eliminated in the next round, a quarterfinals appearance would represent an outstanding campaign for a team that was not expected to compete for the title. Saudi Arabia's investment in sport is undoubtedly paying off and Al-Hilal's run is succeeding in raising the profile of its soccer league.


Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Jalen Williams Has Wrist Surgery; Thunder All-Star Expected Back For Start Of Season
Jalen Williams, the All-Star guard/forward who helped the Oklahoma City Thunder win their first NBA title, had surgery Tuesday to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. The team said he will be re-evaluated in approximately 12 weeks. Thunder general manager Sam Presti said he expects Williams to be ready for the start of the regular season. Williams averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals last season and was named to the All-NBA third team and the NBA All-Defensive second team. He was injured during the Thunder's 125–112 win over the Phoenix Suns on April 9 and played in all 23 postseason games while nursing the torn ligament. Williams averaged 23.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in the Finals against the Indiana Pacers, including a playoff career-high 40 points in a 120–109 win in Game 5. 'I really thought it was pretty impressive that he just kept moving along with no excuses and obviously played his best basketball down the stretch of the season,' Presti said. Dr. Steven Shin performed the procedure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.


Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Caitlin Clark's groin strain sidelines her for Fever's 3rd game in a row, Commissioner's Cup vs. Lynx
Caitlin Clark was ruled out of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup final on Tuesday with a strained groin – her third straight absence for the Indiana Fever. The Fever announced on their pregame injury report that Clark would sit against the Minnesota Lynx in the championship game of the league's in-season tournament. The game does not count toward the regular-season standings. Clark, the first overall pick in the 2024 draft and one of the two captains selected for the WNBA All-Star Game later this month, never missed a game in college at Iowa or with the Fever as a rookie until a strained quadriceps earlier this season kept her out for five games. The game against the league-leading Lynx was another high-profile matchup Clark's absence put a bit of a damper on. She missed Indiana's game on Friday at Dallas that would've pitted her against Wings rookie Paige Bueckers and featured the top picks of the last two drafts.