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Rabat – Brazilian club Flamengo defeated Egypt’s Al Ahly 4-2 on Saturday in a thrilling FIFA Club World Cup’s third place game at the Ibn Battuta Stadium in Tanger.
Gabriel Barbosa gave Flamengo the lead at the 11th minute through a penalty that Al Ahly conceded from a foul by Ali Maaloul.
The Egyptian club relentlessly pressed their opponents following that goal, looking for an opening to score.
Al Ahly managed to find the back of the net at the 37th minute, with Ahmed Abdelkader placing a header at the bottom left corner of the goal from a cross by Maaloul.
In the second half, Al Ahly had an opportunity to score when they were given a penalty at the 58th minute following a foul by Flamengo player Thiago Maia, but failed to convert.
It didn’t take long for them to recover however, as Ahmed Radwan scored with an assist from Hamdi Fathi, giving his team the lead.
The thrilling match continued when Flamengo were able to equalize again after Pedro scored from close-range.
The Brazilian side managed to reclaim their lead in the 84th minute after Al Ahly conceded a penalty through a handball and Barbosa was able to convert it.
Pedro then widened the margin between the two teams when he managed to score in stoppage time.
Flamengo were seeded into the semi-final round as winners of the Libertadores, South America’s highest-level club competition.
Al Ahly, meanwhile, managed to qualify despite not winning the CAF Champions League.
The Egyptian giants qualified as runners-up, since the champions Wydad AC were also representing Morocco as the country’s domestic champions.
Flamengo, who came into the competition as second favorites behind Real Madrid, were defeated by Al Hilal 3-2 in the semi-finals, resulting in disappointment for their fans.
Al Ahly, meanwhile, crushed New Zealand’s Auckland City 3-0 in the first round before coming up against European giants Real Madrid in the semi-finals, where the Spanish club won 4-1.
Real Madrid and Al Hilal will play in the final match at 8PM, at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
While Real Madrid is looking to keep the European stronghold on the title, their Saudi opponents have a chance to make history by becoming the first team not from Europe or South America to take the trophy.
