Jhon Arias and John Kennedy scored in the second half to give Brazilian side Fluminense a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Egypt’s Al-Ahly in their Club World Cup semifinal at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah on Monday.
Coached by Brazil caretaker manager Fernando Diniz, the Copa Libertadores champions will face the winners of Manchester City’s semifinal versus Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday in Friday’s final in Jeddah.
Arias scored from the penalty spot in the 71st minute after former Real Madrid full-back Marcelo was fouled inside the box after a clever move.
“I always try to do something different [the nutmeg]. I’ve always tried in my whole career,” Marcelo told Brazilian TV Globo. “At that moment, the game was in deadlock. I didn’t even think about a nutmeg, it happened, I thought about dribbling to get inside the area.
“So I managed to get in front of him and he fouled me. It wasn’t thought out, it came on the spot and it was nice.”
Substitute Kennedy added a second in the 89th minute with a strike to finish off a counter-attack.
While Marcelo helped create for the champion of South America at one end, the 40-year-old defender Felipe Melo and 43-year-old goalkeeper Fábio protected at the other.
Felipe Melo produced a standout moment of the first half, racing back toward goal to tackle Percy Tau, who was poised to shoot.
Fábio’s calm and precise positional sense let him save repeatedly from Al Ahly’s 18 goal attempts.
Fluminense and Al Ahly presented a throwback look at a competition dominated for two decades by the wealthiest European clubs, who have hired waves of global talent.
A team of 11 South Americans including nine Brazilians started versus 11 Africans including nine Egyptians.
Veteran Brazil internationals Marcelo and Felipe Melo are being rewarded again for coming home from long careers in Europe to enjoy late blooms with the Copa Libertadores winner.
Though Fluminense was outshot 11 to three in the half, both efforts by its Colombian winger Arias struck the left-hand post of goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy.
Arias finally scored his penalty after running at a curious angle parallel to the goal before he stopped, paused then placed a right-foot shot beyond El Shenawy diving to his right.
