With a spirited 4-2 victory over Flamengo in their round-of-16 encounter, Bayern Munich fought back from a determined resistance to advance to the Club World Cup quarterfinals.
The German giants, who have already eliminated their South American counterparts from Sunday’s global cup competition, scored twice as they did, which prompted Flamengo coach Filipe Luis to declare that the football elite “remain in Europe.”
For a spot in the last four, Vincent Kompany’s side will now face Paris Saint-Germain in Atlanta on Saturday.
Despite a performance by Luis’ team that was met with real determination, Flamengo, who had a huge and passionate following at Hard Rock Stadium, bowed out of the competition.
Bayern opened the scoring in the sixth minute with Kane scoring the other goal, who added another four minutes later.
Bayern, who has won three Copa Libertadores titles, appeared to be going away with the game, but they were able to gain traction.
In the 33rd minute, the Flamengo were rewarded for their efforts when Gerson unleashed a thunderbolt that soared past Neuer to bring the majority of the 60, 914 crowd to their feet after the dangerous Luiz Araujo played the ball in from the left.
Four minutes before the break, however, Leon Goretzka, who had the time and space to settle himself before diving more than 20 yards in and shooting his shot into the corner, was left with none of the team’s efforts.
When Michael Olise handled a cross from Giorgio de Arrascaeta from close range in the 55th minute, Flamengo showed a strong resolve to respond and use an ice-cool conversion to close the gap.
In the 73rd minute, Konrad Laimer won the ball in midfield and fed Kimmich, who had won it with assurance and a powerful run to beat Agustin Rossi.
The best Brazilian players belong to European teams, according to legend.
Later, Luis claimed that Bayern’s killer touch earned him a place in Europe, and that the football elite remained there.
“We must simply acknowledge our opponent’s superiority,” the statement continues. We were aware of their excellent qualities. Any error is fatal at this level. He claimed that those who deserved to go through succeeded.
Our plan did succeed because we applied pressure and created chances for goals-scoring, but they were better than us because we are playing against the elite in football. We would have the best player in the world if Vinicius Jr. had not left for Real Madrid.
If we had won today and the tournament, it would not change the fact that they are elite players because they [South American players] want to be in elite, which is what they are. Brazilian players make up our teams, but [the European teams] have the best players. They do have better players, after all.
The expanded Club World Cup was anticipated to be dominated by European teams, but occasionally struggled in the group stage as Brazilian teams advanced and made a lasting impression.
However, Bayern restored some of the “order” that the European football movement would refer to prior to Inter Milan’s clash with Brazil’s Fluminense, who are also in the last 16. Palmeiras made it two goals clear of Botafogo, who is also a Brazilian side.
Source: Aljazeera
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