Al-Ahly Cairo delivered a fast-paced duel against the favorites Fluminense in the first semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup, but shot too many tickets and were ultimately punished bitterly. A penalty paved the way for the Brazilians to win 2:0.
In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, neither team needed long to get up to speed. The Brazilians, led by the old warhorses Marcelo (35), who had already won this title four times with Real Madrid, and Felipe Melo (40), were quickly shown that Al-Ahly are a club to be taken seriously. The Egyptians had to survive an early scare when Arias scored at the far post (9′), but then proved to be on a par.
Al-Ahly had the advantage in midfield, where they repeatedly won crucial duels and counter-attacked at lightning speed thanks to their strong dribbling and, above all, rather nimble attackers: Ashour, Tau and El-Shahat repeatedly caused trouble thanks to their speed. Tau and striker Kahrabat even came close to taking the lead, but were prevented from finishing at the last second by Felipe Melo (15) and Samuel Xavier (19) respectively.
At the other end, it was Arias again who was unlucky with an aluminum goal: Following a corner, the Colombian thundered the ball against the right-hand post once again (25). Fluminense had more of the play, but also acted a little sluggishly and were not always fully committed, especially in the rest of the defense. The Brazilians could therefore thank their goalkeeper Fabio in the 36th minute for not falling behind. He prevented the 0:1 with an incredible reflex save from Kahraba, who was wonderfully set up by El-Shahat.
Al-Ahly’s Swiss coach Marcel Koller (131 Bundesliga games with 1. FC Köln and VfL Bochum) must have been satisfied with his team’s performance, as Cairo had challenged the favorites and even exposed them at times. After the restart, however, the team from Rio de Janeiro looked more stable, less prone to counter-attacks and slightly better overall.
A penalty breaks the spell
The game remained open – and there were chances for both sides: Keno (54th) and Marcelo (59th) lacked finishing luck, as did El-Shahat at the other end (63rd). In the end, a penalty was needed to break the spell: To the incomprehension of the Egyptians, Polish referee Szymon Marciniak pointed to the spot when Marcelo went to ground in the opposing penalty area during an intense and thoroughly physical duel with Tau. Arias stepped up to the spot and scored with a low shot into the bottom left corner (71′).
Al-Ahly proved their morale, rallied once more in the closing stages – and threw everything forward. It was not as if the Egyptians had no chance of equalizing, in fact the opposite was the case. But Tau (72′) and then later substitute Mohamed (78′) failed to score against goalkeeper Fabio – or rather their own nerves
The Brazilians, who were cleverer in the end, held on for the win and will play for the title in the final on Friday. The victory was even greater, as substitute Kennedy scored in the 90th minute to make it 2-0. Fluminense will now face either Champions League winners Manchester City or the Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan – both will play in the second semi-final on Wednesday (7 p.m.) to decide the second finalist.
