JEDDAH: Fluminense coach Fernando Diniz credited his side’s experience for riding out an Al Ahly storm to reach the final of the Club World Cup with a 2-0 win on Monday.

Two goals in the final 20 minutes in Jeddah by Jhon Arias, from the penalty spot, and then John Kennedy carried the Brazilians into Friday’s final against European Champions League winners Manchester City or Japanese side Urawa Reds.

Al Ahly were left to rue a number of missed chances as the African champions failed to find a way past 43-year-old Flumi­nense goalkeeper Fabio.

But he was not the only veteran to shine for the Copa Libertadores champions.

At the age of 40, Felipe Melo became the oldest outfield player in Club World Cup history, while ex-Real Madrid captain Marcelo, 35, won the decisive penalty.

Former Brazil international Ganso, 34, and striker German Cano, 35, also played their part.

“Did the age of our players help? I think it absolutely did,” said Diniz, who has combined his roles as Fluminense boss with a spell as interim Brazil manager. “Marcelo was decisive, especially for the penalty.”

Marcelo also believes it is a mix of youth and experience that has led Fluminense to an all-time high this year as they won the Copa Libertadores for the first time.

“They call us the 40-somethings, but we aim to help the younger players with this experience,” said the left-back. “I think it is this mix of young players and experience that has helped Fluminense a lot.”

The last 10 Club World Cups have been won by European sides. But if the gulf is growing between Europe’s elite and the rest of the world at club level, the gap between South America’s best and the rest of the world has narrowed significantly.

Twice in the past three years, the Copa Libertadores winners have failed to qualify for the final and Fluminense could easily have followed suit.

Al Ahly had dumped out a star-studded Al-Ittihad featuring Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante and Fabinho on their home patch in the previous round.

And roared on by thousands of travelling fans from just across the Red Sea, they were the more energetic and enterprising side throughout.

“We should have conceded goals, they played really well and our goalkeeper saved us several times,” added Diniz. “But we have a very strong characteristic: we never give up.”

It was a compelling encounter, with an aggressive Fluminense dominating possession, but often being exposed by Al-Ahly’s counter attacks.

Colombia winger Arias was a constant menace, running up and down the right channel and hitting the post twice in the first half.

However, Al-Ahly wasted several opportunities, using the speed of Kahraba and Percy Tau to launch quick counters.

Kahraba was denied from two clearcut early chances, first by Samuel Xavier who made a heroic goalline clearance in the 19th minute, while Fabio made a brilliant one-handed save to palm round the post a close-range header right before the break.

Fluminense got back on top in the second half but Fabio made another critical save from a Tau counter.

Fluminense finally managed to break the deadlock thanks to Marcelo, who nutmegged Tau, hitting the ball through his legs, to get into the box before being fouled from behind.

Mohamed Elshenawy had saved a penalty from Benzema in the quarter-finals, but this time was beaten by Arias’ accurate spot-kick into the bottom corner in the 71st minute.

“I always try to do something different [the nutmeg]. I’ve always tried in my whole career,” Marcelo told Brazilian TV Globo. “At that moment, the game was in deadlock. I didn’t even think about a nutmeg, it happened, I thought about dribbling to get inside the area. So I managed to get in front of him and he fouled me... It wasn’t thought out, it came on the spot and it was nice.”

Al-Ahly had a chance to level one minute later, but Tau missed a sitter, heading into the goalkeeper’s hands from point-blank range.

Kennedy, whose goal won the Copa Libertadores final against Boca Juniors last month, then showed the poise Al Ahly had been missing in front of goal by coolly turning inside his marker and slotting into the far corner.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2023