The match report is in, and here it is. Congratulations to Fluminense, commiserations to Inter, and thanks to you, dear reader, for joining us on the MBM.
An extremely downcast Stefan de Vrij has a chat with DAZN as well. “We wanted to win … we didn’t start well … we wanted to create chances … play with a high rhythm … it was difficult to find spaces … they closed space well … I missed a chance … we lost the game … for now we only feel disappointment.”
The new Inter boss Cristian Chivu talks to DAZN. “We didn’t give up … we tried until the end … some changes to the formation … we tried to do our best … it wasn’t the day for us … they were well organised with a low block … it was hard for us to find solutions … in the second half we switched it a bit more … more crosses … until the end we tried.”
Flu captain Thiago Silva speaks to DAZN. “I am very proud with my team-mates … it is hard to play against Inter … they played the Champions League final … it’s not easy to play … too hot today to play football … the timing is no good … but Fluminense is a big team … we played very well … to win 2-0 against Inter is not easy … ten days ago I had a hamstring so it was not easy to play today but I am very proud of our medical team.”
This means a lot to the Fluminense squad. All of the players and the coaching staff place their club flag on the centre spot, linking arms to surround it. Then they say a prayer, before the giant circle of friends begins to turn in a joyous dance. Wonderful scenes.
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That’s a throughly deserved win for the Brazilian side. Their goals bookended the game, and the big bit in the middle was nearly all theirs as well. Jhon Arias in particular was excellent. Inter only turned up for the last 15 minutes or so, and admittedly had no luck during that period, a couple of efforts pinging off the Fluminense woodwork. But over the whole piece, Flu were the better side, coming close with a couple of other chances of their own, and having a goal disallowed for being narrowly offside. They were quicker to the ball from the get-go against a subdued Inter, who can now at least draw a line under their painful 2024-25 season. Flu meanwhile advance to the quarters, where they’ll meet the winners of tonight’s game between Manchester City and Al-Hilal.
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FULL TIME: Internazionale 0-2 Fluminense
Fluminense are in the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup! A fully deserved victory. Inter come up short yet again.
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90 min +6: Adding insult to injury, Dimarco’s curling shot towards the top-left corner pings off junction of post and bar and away. It’s not their day. Their month. Their year. Flu by contrast in wonderland!
90 min +5: In fairness, Inter will be glad to see the back of the 2024-25 season. The end of it has been an absolute nightmare for them. Coppa Italia, Serie A, Champions League and now this, all gone in the space of a couple of months.
GOAL! Inter 0-2 Fluminense (Hercules 90+3)
Flu have been soaking up the pressure … but now there’s a release of the stuff as they counter and win a throw. It comes in from the right. Hercules wanders across the face of the box, right to left, before swivelling and threading a shot into the bottom-right corner! Sommer at full stretch, but his fingers won’t reach. What a finish!
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90 min +2: Flu are living on their nerves. Martinez bursts into space down the left channel before dragging a weak shot across the face of goal and out for a goal kick. Then the flag pops up for offside anyway.
90 min +1: Santos labours over a clearance and clumsily lets the ball roll out for a corner. It’s nearly a costly mistake, because from the set piece, the ball is eventually cut back from the right to Augusto, in a pocket of space on the edge of the Flu box. He leans back and flays spectacularly over the bar.
90 min: There will be seven additional minutes.
89 min: Carboni drops a shoulder to diddle his way past two defenders on the right … only to clumsily shin the ball out for a goal kick. The painful denouement to Inter’s season in microcosm.
88 min: Arias hopes to parlay the free kick into a corner, to waste more time, but the ball flies out of play unaided by Inter, who get it back. The Italians go upfield through Henrique, but his long cross from the left sails out for a goal kick. Flu don’t rush to take it.
87 min: Arias holds the ball up by Inter’s corner flag on the left. He’s clearly running on fumes, but grafts hard anyway. And he draws a clumsy foul from Carboni. The clock ticks on.
85 min: Santos is booked for barging into the back of Augusto. There’s suddenly an edge of desperation to Fluminense’s play. So close, but still so far.
84 min: Big chance for Flu! Arias should release Lima into the box down the inside-left channel. But the pass is weak and behind Lima, who is forced to check back, turn, and attempt an ambitious curler from the edge of the D. Over the bar it goes.
83 min: Inter are beginning to look dangerous for the first time this afternoon. And how! Martinez crosses low from the right. Esposito sweeps towards the bottom right. Fabio kicks clear. What a save! Then Inter come again, and Martinez batters a shot off the base of the right-hand post! The ball pings across the face of goal and away from danger. Flu hanging on here.
81 min: Bernal makes way for Thiago Santos. A defender for a midfielder. Flu want to keep hold of what they’ve got.
80 min: Barella curls in a cross from the left. The ball drops to Martinez, who swivels and shoots from 12 yards. But it’s a scuffer, and easily claimed by Fabio before it can creep into the bottom right.
78 min: Everyone suitably refreshed, the game restarts.
76 min: … and with that, it’s time for the second-half Cooling Break. “Are you allowed to show a Mountain Dew advert (a Pepsi product) during a tournament sponsored by Coke?” wonders Joe Pearson. Hey, we’re in Pepsi’s home state here today. We’ve surely got free rein.
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75 min: Freytes brings down Carboni, 30 yards out, just to the right of centre. Dimarco curls the free kick inches wide of the top-right corner. Not sure Fabio had that covered. As close as Inter have come.
73 min: The game almost grinds to a halt, so slow is Inter’s passing. They’re not panicking, to be fair, but this is taking playing it cool to extremes. But suddenly they pick up the pace a little, Esposito and Carboni making a nuisance of themselves in the middle of a penalty-box stramash. Still no shot on target, though, and Flu eventually hack clear.
71 min: Dimarco and Esposito combine down the inside-left channel, but neither can get a shot away. The ball ricochets out for a goal kick, at which point Inter replace Bastoni with Carlos Augusto.
69 min: The free kick’s hit long, and the ball comes back in from the right. Martinez heads down at the left-hand post for De Vrij, who shanks wide from a couple of yards. Inter should be level. Had that been De Vrij to Martinez, instead of the other way round, they probably would be.
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68 min: Barella chases a long ball. He hooks it back as it drops, knocking it onto Silva’s arm. He claims for a penalty, but there’s no way that’ll be given, Silva’s arm by his side, the players standing next to each other. Play goes on, and Martinez is brought down by Ignacio just to the left of the box. And from that free kick …
67 min: Flu swap out their scorer Cano for Everaldo, while Inter send on Sebastiano Esposito for the extremely underwhelming Thuram.
65 min: Flu are beginning to see more of the ball. Inter are doing nowt with it themselves.
63 min: Arias takes the corner himself. He finds Bernal, six yards out. Bernal heads over. Then soon after the restart, Cano attempts to catch out Sommer with a speculative shot from 40 yards. It flies wide, but Flu are looking for a second goal here, and getting closer and closer.
62 min: Henrique tries to force a cross in from the right, but there are too many white shirts in the way. The ball pinballs out to Arias, who wins a cheap free kick to take the heat off his defence. Then Flu move upfield, Arias popping up again, this time to send a screaming curler towards the top right. Sommer is forced to tip around the post.
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60 min: Martinelli goes down, clutching his hamstring. He’ll not be able to continue. He’s offered the stretcher, but wants to limp off by himself. He’s replaced by Lima, while Nonato makes way for Hercules.
59 min: Rene makes ground down the left and swings a low cross through the Inter box. The unmarked Cano isn’t far away from meeting it on the penalty spot, but fails to connect.
57 min: Arias tries to spin Bastoni down the right, and is tugged back cynically. The Inter defender is testing the referee’s patience, having already been booked. Just a free kick, though. Arias loops it long, and Cano, just to the left of the box, returns the ball screeching inches wide of the right-hand post. But for an inch here, and another inch there, Flu could be three up.
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55 min: Inter try to press Flu back, but Nonato breaks out with a dainty run along the left touchline. He’s eventually forced to turn tail, but that’s moved the action up the pitch, and Inter away from the Flu goal. The Brazilians looking pretty comfortable right now.
53 min: … but nevertheless, Inter make a triple change. Dumfries, Asllani and Mkhitaryan make way for Henrique, Sucic and Carboni.
52 min: … so having said that, Martinez starts buzzing around and wins the ball on the edge of the Flu box. He feeds Dumfries down the right channel, but the wing-back slips while attempting to shoot and the ball clanks out for a goal kick. Better from Inter, though.
51 min: The game is stop-start, slow, and bitty. Inter showing next to no urgency. Fluminense will be delighted.
49 min: Inter haven’t exactly come out for the second half looking particularly re-energised. A lot of slack passes at walking pace.
47 min: Bastoni throws long from the left. Silva heads it clear. De Vrij picks up the loose ball and has a dig from an ambitious distance. It’s no good at all. Miles wide left. A bit early for hail marys?
Flu get the second half started. No changes.
Half-time entertainment. Courtesy of the greatest Carolina Panther of them all, Sir Purr.
HALF TIME: Inter 0-1 Fluminense
A scoreline that doesn’t flatter Flu at all. Inter need a rethink; without one, they’ll be going home.
45 min +6: We don’t like to see that sort of thing. That was good fun. Nothing comes of the long throw that’s eventually dispatched, Mkhitaryan’s huffing and puffing all for nought.
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45 min +5: The kerfuffle started because Mkhitaryan, irked at Renato Gaúcho’s cheek, barged into the Flu boss with his chest puffed out. Gaúcho’s players rallied to his cause. Eventually it all calmed down, and Gaúcho was booked.
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45 min +3: Fluminense wheel out a short-corner routine. It’s not very good, and Inter have the chance to counter. The ball’s blootered long. Fabio races out of his goal and knocks it out for a throw. Mkhitaryan tries to retrieve the ball to restart quickly, only for Flu manager Renato Gaúcho to flick it away! Cue bench-emptying brouhaha.
45 min +1: The first of seven additional first-half minutes. Saturday night’s game here between Chelsea and Benfica took four hours and 39 minutes. Say what you like about the Club World Cup, but you get good bang for your buck at the Bank of America Stadium, in terms of quantity if not necessarily quality.
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45 min: Dimarco stands on Ignacio’s outstretched leg. It looked accidental, and yet you’ve seen players sent off for less. No punishment this time.
44 min: Arias in an absurd amount of space down the right. He’s got options in the middle, but decides to go for it himself, and wangs a woeful shot into the crowd. He has the good grace to look irritated with himself.
42 min: I say “clearly offside” but replays show there wasn’t much in it. Inter were inches away from being in all sorts. They need to get their gamefaces on, and quick.
40 min: … but Inter only half clear it. Some head tennis in the box. Silva knocks the ball to Rene, on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box. Cano heads across to Ignacio, who eyebrows home from a couple of yards. A celebratory roar, but it soon subsides, because Ignacio was clearly offside. No goal.
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39 min: Xavier battles with Bastoni for the ball down the right. Xavier tries to nip past. Bastoni hands him off, and becomes yet another player who will miss the quarter final should his team make it. He’s booked. Nothing comes of the resulting free kick.
37 min: The free kick is just to the right of the Fluminense D. Dimarco fancies it. He curls powerfully towards the bottom-left corner, but Fabio reads his intent, retrieving a ball that bounces awkwardly in front of him. Safe hands.
36 min: Barella has been Inter’s main threat, and he runs at Flu down the middle again. He’s about to pull the trigger by the D when he’s clipped from behind by Rene, who goes into the book and will miss the quarter-final should his team make it.
34 min: Inter won’t be panicking just yet. But they’ve got reason to at least worry, because Flu have kept a clean sheet in four of their last five matches. Ulsan HD are the only team to have breached their defences during that run.
32 min: Everyone rehydrated, we go again.
31 min: … and with that, it’s time for a Cooling Break.
30 min: It should be 2-0. Arias finds a pocket of space, 25 yards out. His low curling shot towards the bottom right is parried by Sonner, but only into the path of Xavier, who should slot, but pulls his effort across the keeper and wide left.
28 min: … and it’s eyebrowed clear by Ignacio. Other than the Dimarco drive, Fabio hasn’t had a save to make.
27 min: The free kick’s not good, but deflects out for a corner. A second chance for Inter. Asllani to take.
26 min: Inter ping it around the edge of the Flu box. The ball’s worked right to Darmian, who is just about to enter the area when he’s upended by Freytes. A free kick and a booking. Another inch infield, and that would have been a penalty kick.
24 min: Barella sashays elegantly down the middle of the park, sidestepping a couple of challenges with a swivel of the hips. He then wedges a pass down the left channel for Thuram, who meets the ball dropping over his shoulder with a wild volley that disappears into the stand behind. Nice move, though.
23 min: Nonato and Xavier exchange passes down the right, a rare Fluminense attack. It peters out when Bastoni comes across to usher the ball over the byline.
22 min: An Inter corner comes in from the left. Ignacio clears with ease. The Italians are dominating possession, but not creating too much.
21 min: Martinez and Mkhitaryan try to combine down the left, but get it all wrong under no pressure and the ball sails apologetically out for a throw. Both men hang their head. A bit early for the old despair, lads.
19 min: Dimarco makes a nuisance of himself down the left and loops a cross into the mixer. There’s nobody in blue and black in the box, but Fabio flaps at the ball anyway. Had an Inter player taken a gamble, he’d have had a tap-in. But the keeper gets away with his error.
17 min: Barella nicks the ball off Arias, who tugs him back. It’s a free kick, clearly, but for some reason Cano is beyond livid at its award, and picks up a booking for telling the referee how he sees it. That’s a preposterous reaction to a garden-variety free kick in the middle of the park. What a daft yellow.
15 min: Inter knock it around the back patiently. Fluminense more than happy to let them do it.
13 min: Barella crosses low from the right. Thuram attempts to control and turn, but the ball clanks through to Fabio.
11 min: Inter nearly equalise. Barella sprays a lovely pass down the inside-left channel for Mkhitaryan, who enters the box, swivels, and cuts back for Dimarco, who lashes a first-time drive goalwards. It’s well hit, but also well met by Fabio, who parries clear with strong hands.
9 min: … and there you go. Asllani stretches for a ball he’s miscontrolled and scissors Nonato’s leg. He’s booked; he could easily have been sent packing for that. He’ll not play in the quarter-final should Inter get there.
7 min: Darmian comes through the back of Cano, and is fortunate not to go into the book. Inter have already committed a couple of fouls, so their next miscreant might not be so fortunate.
5 min: Inter try to reply immediately, Darmian making good down the right. But his cross is no use. What a start by Flu, though; the Brazilians, well, flew out of the traps and got right up in Inter’s collective grille. They got their reward.
GOAL! Inter 0-1 Fluminense (Cano 3)
Cano gets his reward this time! And once again, Inter’s defence is all over the shop. Martinelli wins the ball out on the right off De Vrij and sets Arias away down the flank. His cross takes a huge deflection off Bastoni and loops into the middle. Nobody in the Inter defence reacts, everyone stock still, allowing Cano to stoop and head home unchallenged from a couple of yards.
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1 min: Less than 30 seconds on the clock, and Inter nearly concede a farcical goal. De Vrij underhits a backpass. Sommer gets to the ball ahead of the lurking Cano – just – though he slices his clearance hysterically. What a cock-up that could have been.
Inter get the match started. It’s warm at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hopefully not humid enough for any action-bothering electrical activity. Speaking of which, here’s Justin Kavanagh with a pre-match poser: “At next summer’s World Cup, let’s say that England, Italy, and Argentina are involved in a group of death and one of them are left to play Uzbekistan in their third match in Philadelphia (where right now there’s a violent thunderstorm). Meanwhile, the other two heavyweights, who have racked up a fair few goals each against the Uzbeks (the obligatory ‘no disrespect’ here, as I know nothing about their national team’s strengths or weaknesses) face off in the calmer climes of, say, Toronto. Now, as the heavens open in Philly and play is suspended for 90 minutes early in the game, won’t Fifa have to contemporaneously suspend the Toronto game? Otherwise, we are back to Argentina v Peru in 1978, and the team playing in Philly will know exactly how many goals will be necessary to qualify for the next round. I’m not being pesky, I’m just asking for a couple of billion interested friends, Mr Infantino.”
The players turn up for work. One by one. Dry ice, neon lights and a continuous stream of miserable, uninterested, self-conscious faces. That’s showbiz! We’ll be off in a minute or two.
The winner of this tie will play Manchester City or Al-Hilal in the quarter finals. That tie’s being played later tonight. Here’s Pep, basically in lockstep with his pals Jurgen and Thomas, but looking on the bright side regardless.
Inter make two changes to their starting XI after their 2-0 win over River Plate. Stefan de Vrij and Marcus Thuram come in for Francesco Acerbi and Francesco Pio Esposito.
Flu make two changes as well, after their goalless draw with Mamelodi Sundowns. Thiago Silva and Facundo Bernal take the places of Hércules and Agustín Canobbio.
The teams
Internazionale: Sommer, Bastoni, de Vrij, Darmian, Dumfries, Dimarco, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Asllani, Lautaro Martinez, Thuram.
Subs: Di Gennaro, Josep Martinez, Calligaris, Acerbi, Carlos Augusto, Palacios, Re Cecconi, Cocchi, Zalewski, Carboni, Sucic, Berenbruch, De Pieri, Luis Henrique, Sebastiano Esposito.
Fluminense: Fabio, Samuel Xavier, Rene, Freytes, Ignacio, Silva, Bernal, Martinelli, Cano, Arias, Vitor Eudes.
Subs: Manoel, Fuentes, Guga, Ganso, Soteldo, Santos, Lima, Hercules, Lezcano, Everaldo, Keno, Canobbio, Serna, Paulo Baya.
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Preamble
Neither of these teams have wowed ‘em yet. In the groups, Inter drew with Monterrey then left it late against both Urawa Red Diamonds and River Plate, while Fluminense’s admittedly entertaining come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Ulsan HD was sandwiched by two goalless draws against Borussia Dortmund and Mamelodi Sundowns. But both know their way around knock-out football: Big Flu won the Copa Libertadores in 2023 while Inter reached the final of Big Cup in 2023 and 2025. So this could still be fun … providing the North Carolina weather doesn’t do a number on us again. Kick-off is at 8pm UK time, 3pm local, lightning permitting. It’s on! Hopefully!
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