Jeddah (dpa)
Confrontations between Arab clubs and their Brazilian counterparts are renewed, with a strong clash between Al-Ahly of Egypt and Fluminense, on Monday, in the semi-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup. The match will be held at King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
Al-Ahly advanced to the “Gold Square” with a strong performance, after defeating the Saudi Al-Ittihad, the tournament’s organizer, 3-1, while the Brazilian team participates directly in the semi-finals, according to the lottery system that spares the European and South American champions from participating in the first rounds.
Al-Ahly is armed with experience, as it is participating in the World Cup for the ninth time, and has previously won the bronze medal three times (2006, 2020 and 2021), and won fourth place twice (2012 and 2022), and is seeking a historic achievement by reaching the final for the first time in its history, and achieving the dream of crowning the title. Or return to Cairo with the silver medal.
What enhances Al-Ahly’s chances against Fluminense is the crowd factor that is expected to attend in large numbers at the “Jawhara Stadium.”
On the other hand, Al-Ahly suffers from a historical complex before confronting Fluminense, as the Egyptian champion had never defeated any Brazilian team during the original time of the match, knowing that it won bronze in the 2020 Club World Cup after defeating the Brazilian Palmeiras on penalties, but Al-Ahly tasted the bitterness of losing in 4 matches. Others against Brazilian clubs in the World Cup, the first of which was against Internacional Porto Alegre 2-1 in the third edition in 2006 in Japan, and Corinthians with a goal in the semi-finals of the 2012 edition in Japan, and the same scenario was repeated in the semi-finals of the 2021 edition in the Emirates, when it lost to Palmeiras by two goals, before To lose the bronze medal in the last edition in 2022 in Morocco, after falling to Flamengo 2-4.
Fluminense is going into the World Cup with great ambitions, as it seeks to leave a new exceptional mark in its first participation after winning the Copa Libertadores Cup for the first time in its history, and is based on a number of players with long experience in European stadiums, such as Felipe Melo, and Marcelo, the former Real Madrid star who won the World Cup title. Clubs 4 times in the shirt of the Madrid giant.
#AlAhly. #Dream #Night #Club #World #Cup