The FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019 reaches its halfway point with one of the tournament favourites making their entrance. Flamengo arrive in Doha determined to end a stellar year on the highest of notes. Having won their second Copa Libertadores after a 38-year wait, they added another Brazilian league title to their collection and are keen to keep the good times rolling.
On the downside, however, Flamengo had a 28-game unbeaten run ended on the final day of the season, a setback that will give hope to an Al Hilal side that is looking to spring a surprise and reach the final.
The first semi-final of Qatar 2019 will be a memorable occasion for every Flamengo and Al Hilal player, but especially for Colombian midfielder Gustavo Cuellar and Portuguese coach Jorge Jesus.
Cuellar helped Mengao reach the quarter-finals of this year’s Copa Libertadores before being sold to the Saudi side, while Jesus was in the Al Hilal hot seat before joining the Brazilian giants and overseeing one of the finest seasons in the club’s history.
Jesus, however, chose to focus on things at hand than the ‘swap’ as he addressed the media ahead of the semis. “We are focused on the task at hand, playing every game as a knock-out match. This is an important match for both teams as the winner will be one step closer to the title,” he said.
About his knowledge of Al Hilal, the coach said, “I know all the players of Al Hilal except for one. I know their level of play. Witnessing Al Hilal’s previous matches, it shows how far they’ve come, and we are not expecting it to be an easy match.”
Flamengo player Rafinha said his team was representing an entire continent. “We want to win this trophy for the fans, because not only are we representing our club and Brazil but the whole South American continent, we want to make them proud,” he said.
Rafinha said their attention was all on the pitch. “We are focused on playing against Al Hilal, many media outlets promote the re-match of Flamengo vs LFC, but we want to focus on the task at hand in order for us to qualify for the final.
In a tournament as short as this, where the margin for error is so small, having an in-form striker can make the difference between success and failure.
Flamengo and Al Hilal both have one in their ranks. Gabriel Gabigol Barbosa and Bafetimbi Gomis have each scored eight goals in their last ten matches, some of them very special goals indeed. The Brazilian scored the brace that secured the Copa Libertadores for Flamengo, while the Frenchman’s most recent strike took his side through to this semi-final.
It was Gomis’ stunning strike that took the Saudi outfit past Esperance. The leading goal-scorer in this year’s AFC Champions League, the Frenchman came off the bench with 25 minutes remaining and took just eight minutes to conjure up the winner, coolly flicking the ball up and over an opposing defender and then volleying home.
Al Hilal’s hopes of upsetting Flamengo depend to a large extent on how he performs.
The match will be preceded by the battle for fifth place between host club Al Sadd and Esperance, the team that occupied that position in last year’s tournament. Dominant in Africa, the Tunisians continue to come up short in the Club World Cup.
