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Inter Milan defeated Urawa Red Diamonds 2-1, eliminating them from the Club World Cup, while Borussia Dortmund won 4-3 against Mamelodi Sundowns in a thrilling match.
(Credit: AFP, AP)
Inter Milan came from behind to defeat Urawa Red Diamonds, knocking the Japanese side out of the Club World Cup on Saturday. Meanwhile, Borussia Dortmund managed to hold off Mamelodi Sundowns in a thrilling seven-goal encounter.
At Lumen Field in Seattle, Ryoma Watanabe scored an early goal for Urawa Reds, supported by their vocal fans. Inter’s captain Lautaro Martinez, who had equalised in their 1-1 draw with Monterrey of Mexico in their first game, repeated his feat with a clever overhead kick 12 minutes from time to level the score.
Valentin Carboni emerged as the unexpected hero, scoring the winning goal two minutes into injury time. The 20-year-old Argentine had not played a competitive match since early October due to a serious knee injury while on loan at Marseille. Carboni made his comeback for Inter after over two years and was in the right place to sidefoot the ball home when it 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’s hard-fought victory.
The result left Inter temporarily top of Group E with four points, one point ahead of River Plate before the Argentinian giants faced Monterrey later in Pasadena. Urawa Reds, having lost their second match, were eliminated, leaving many of their supporters 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.
The new-age Bellingham strikes
Earlier, Jobe Bellingham scored his first goal for Dortmund as his new club overcame stifling heat in Cincinnati to beat Sundowns 4-3, reaching four points from two matches in Group F. The South African champions had taken an early lead through a fine solo goal from Lucas Ribeiro.
However, Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams gifted Dortmund their equaliser by passing the ball directly to Felix Nmecha, who easily scored. Serhou Guirassy then gave Dortmund the lead with his 35th goal of the season.
English midfielder Bellingham, who joined Dortmund from Sunderland like his older brother Jude, 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 managed to reduce the deficit through goals from Iqraam Rayners and Lebo Mothiba.
“I’m sweating like I’ve just come out of a sauna,” said Dortmund coach Niko Kovac about the conditions in a midday game. “It was tough for both teams, but the opposition are used to it. We didn’t give our best performance, but it wasn’t possible today.”
Despite the loss, Sundowns still have a chance to qualify for the last 16 in their final Group F game. “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, faced Ulsan of South Korea at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford later on Saturday in the other Group F game.
(with agency inputs)
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term…Read More
After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term… Read More
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