El Al-Hilal elimina al Flamengo y espera al Real Madrid en la final de Rabat
Al-Hilal are fourth in the Saudi Arabian league, a competition led by the team where Cristiano Ronaldo plays, Al-Nassr.
Led by the Argentinian Ramón Díaz on the bench, his compatriot Luciano Vietto on the pitch and another well-known player in the Spanish league, Ighalo, they will play the final in Rabat at the Moulay Abdellah stadium next Saturday at 20:00.
In that match, they await Real Madrid. Before that, Ancelotti's side will have to beat Al-Ahly, the Egyptian side that eliminated Seattle with an 88th-minute goal to take their unbeaten streak to a historic 23 matches.
Flamengo left Rio de Janeiro's international airport accompanied by thousands of fans in an expedition that included 31 players. Their aim was to reach the final and challenge Real Madrid to demonstrate the power of South American football, Europe's usual hotbed.
Vitor Pererira left Filipe Luis and Arturo Vidal on the bench. The starting eleven included De Arrascaeta or David Luiz with Pedro and Barbosa up front for Brazil. South America's most expensive team came into the semi-final too fast and paid the consequences.
Facing them were Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia with the memory of the team's World Cup victory over Argentina in Qatar. Saudi Arabia's game in destroying Messi's all-powerful side was followed up in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup at the Ibn Batouta stadium in Tangier.
The Brazilians appeared with a high level of excitement on the pitch that led to the first penalty in the third minute. A hard tackle by Matheuzinho in the box and Salem al-Dawsari scored.
Flamengo got back into the game with a goal from Pedro in the 20th minute, but were unable to contain their revolutions.
The next problem they would encounter was a yellow card for Gerson for protesting to the referee. It didn't seem serious, but as the minutes ticked by it was key, because in the eighth minute of first-half stoppage time he saw a second for a handball inside the box which was reviewed by the VAR, alerted by Spaniard Martínez Munuera.
Salem Al-Dawsari struck again to make it 1-2 and it seemed almost impossible to come back, even more so when an Atlético de Madrid or Villarreal veteran like Luciano Vietto made it 1-3 with a great goal on the counter in the 70th minute.
Pedro again pulled one back for the Brazilian team. At 2-3 and a bad mistake by Fabricio Bruno could have taken the game to extra time, but luck did not fall on the South American side.
Arturo Vidal had almost 20 minutes to prove that his harangue against Real Madrid could come true, but he was unable to score a goal to inspire his team.
Brazil will not be represented in the final of the Club World Cup in Rabat. Morocco will experience a unique final between a Saudi team and an Egyptian team if there is a surprise in the other semi-final. Otherwise, it will be Real Madrid who will be looking for the fifth tournament in their history.
