Flamengo suffers but obtains third place in the Club World Cup

Flamengo beat Al Ahly 4-2 and finished third in the Club World Cup, this Saturday in Tangier, in a match in which the African runner-up dominated the Libertadores winner for many minutes, who in the final stretch shaped its potential.

Gabriel Barbosa (11 and 84, both penalties) and Pedro (77 and 90+1) signed for the Brazilian giant.

At the Ibn Battouta stadium, Al Ahly once again showed that they are a high-level team and were ahead with another brace, scored by Ahmed Abdelkader (38 and 60).

But the two penalties he received and the expulsion of Khaled Abdelfattah (69) handed victory to a Flamengo team that ended up thrashing.

FIFA had changed the venue of the match on Thursday for third place, originally scheduled in Rabat as a prelude to the final between Real Madrid and Al Hilal, to preserve the grass.

With only 48 hours to spare, many Flamengo fans chose to stay in Rabat and watch the final, so the game in Tangier was somewhat watered down.

With his victory, Flamengo will receive two and a half million dollars, while Al Ahly will win two. FIFA gives the finalist four; and to the winner of the tournament, five.

In the first half, Al Ahly left Flamengo little room for manoeuvre, which nevertheless went ahead with a penalty that was awarded after the Uruguayan referee Andrés Matonte reviewed a tackle by his compatriot Guillermo Varela in the VAR.

The penalty was converted by Gabriel Barbosa after parade and deceived Egyptian international goalkeeper Mohamed Elshenawy.

With Al Ahly very aggressive in pressing and able to move the ball with ease, Flamengo made it 2-0 on a counterattack, but Pedro’s header was cleared by Elsehnawy, leaving the ball at the feet of gabigolwho shot very high (26).

Finally, the runner-up from Africa found his prize. In a corner, Abdelkader took advantage of the fact that goalkeeper Santos did not come out, as well as the passivity of Fabricio Bruno and Ayrton Lucas to equalize.

At the start of the second half, Al Ahly continued to command, even allowing himself the luxury of wasting a penalty in minute 57. Tiago Maia brought down Sherif, but goalkeeper Santos guessed Ali Maaloul’s shot.

The Egyptian team was far superior and reflected it with Abdelkader’s play in the area, culminating in a superb shot into the net.

Al Ahly looked set to win, but that all changed after Khaled’s dismissal.

With 20 minutes to play, Flamengo did not miss a gift from the Al Ahly goalkeeper who left the ball at Pedro’s feet in an outing, lethal to tie.

Then came another penalty, by hand, which he scored coldly gabigol. And already in discount time, Pedro closed the account.

The striker of the Brazilian team leaves Morocco with two doubles, after which he scored in the semifinals against Al Hilal (3-2 defeat). (D)