The replacement Hercules scored his second goal in as many second half matches to raise Fluminense in the semi-finals of the FIFA club World Cup with a quarter-final victory of 2-1 against Al Hilal on Friday in Orlando, Florida.
Martinelli also scored at the end of the first half to continue a fabulous tournament for the Rio of Janeiro Club and Brazil as a whole. Tuesday’s semi-final could be a Brazilian affair if Palmeiras beat Chelsea in the second quarter-final on Friday evening in Philadelphia.
Al Hilal comes out despite a fourth goal from the tournament for striker Marcos Leonardo, who was for the injured Aleksandar Mitrovic.
The Saudi team was the last of the remaining Asia, after having succeeded in the greatest upheaval of the tournament with a 4-3 victory, near Manchester City in the second round on Monday.
Hercules put Fluminense in front of good in the 70th when he was rewarded for his own persistence.
After his first long -term shot was diverted high in the air, he continued his race in front while his teammate Samuel Xavier won the next head.
He landed at the feet of Hercules, whose wonderful first touch put him in a shooting position before his second sends a right foot in the lower left corner, which caused the jubilation of another pro-Brazilian crowd to this tournament.
Al Hilal pressure on Fluminense in the dying stages, but could not create a clear look on Fabio’s lens.
Martinelli put Fluminense in front in the 40th minute on a brilliant strike. His first touch took the pass of Gabriel Fuentes beyond a defender of Al Hilal, and his second sparked a fierce left shot who beat goalkeeper Yassine Bounou in the upper right corner at around 15 meters.
A minute after the start of the time of downtime, the keeper of Faux Fabio spread to his left to push the powerful powerful head of Kalidou Koulibaly beyond the post.
After having almost leveled before half-time, Koulibaly won another dangerous head six minutes after the start of a corner.
This time, he landed at Leonardo’s feet, who balanced and took a close range finish in front of Fabio and two defenders on the line.
He stayed at the level four minutes later when Bounou spread to his right to remove the ball from the feet of the German cano, trying to bypass him on the dribble after intercepting a deep pass in the half -attacker.
The Liverpool FC and the star of the national team of Portugal Diogo Joto and his brother Andre Silva, who died Thursday in Spain in a car accident, were honored with a pre-match moment.
The cameras showed starters from Al Hilal and Portuguese compatriots Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo by fighting tears during observance.
– field level media
