Veteran Thiago Silva was one of the main players responsible for Fluminense's sensational performance against Borussia Dortmund in one of the most exciting games of the Club World Cup so far. Even though the match at the MetLife Stadium ended in a goalless draw, Brazil were surprisingly superior.
Everything suggests that Borussia Dortmund were surprised by the physical imposition of the team coached by Renato Portalupppi, who took the attitude of pressing high from start to finish with a physical strength that caught the eye. In addition, a vertical interchange of passes and actions concentrated on Jhon Arias were key to guaranteeing a performance far above expectations.
Meanwhile, the 4th-placed team in the Bundesliga were very abusive in their attempts to get forward on long balls and found their lines very compact when they tried to attack through sensational cover. Fluminense's main finishers consisted of Nonato, Arias and Martinelli on long-range opportunities.
Even with the drop in intensity in the second half, Fluminense dominated possession and took very little time to threaten again. The most dangerous chance came when John Arias took off at speed and set up Everaldo for a one-on-one with Kobel, but the Brazilian striker decided to wait for Canobbio to arrive, and his weak shot made it easy for the goalkeeper to make a poor decision.
Kevin Serna and top scorer Germán Cano, an Argentinian with a long career in Brazilian soccer, were brought on by Fluminense's coach and gave the game more pace in the final minutes with many attacks at speed. Even so, Borussia Dortmund managed to hold out and celebrated a draw, even if they took advantage of their opponents' slowdown to try and win in the final minutes.
Europeans fail to beat South Americans in Club World Cup
Yet another clash between South Americans and Europeans has shown that Brazilian soccer has an apparently smaller gap with European teams in general than many had imagined before the start of the Club World Cup. However, the technical difference when it comes to setting up matches still stands out in favor of the European teams.