Inter on Wednesday kept their cool to beat nine-man River Plate 2-0 and reach the FIFA Club World Cup last 16, while Mexican side Monterrey followed them through from Group E.
Borussia Dortmund defeated Ulsan HD 1-0 to claim the top spot in Group F. The Germans are to face Sergio Ramos’ Monterrey, who thrashed Urawa Red Diamonds 4-0.
Argentine powerhouses River Plate were eliminated after their defeat by Inter, who would take on more South American opposition on Monday next week in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the shape of Fluminense.
Photo: Reuters
The Brazilian side could only draw 0-0 against South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, but it was enough to claim second place behind Dortmund.
Champions League runners-up Inter faced a battle in Seattle against an aggressive River Plate side who had Lucas Martinez and Gonzalo Montiel sent off in front of 45,000 fans at Lumen Field.
Francesco Esposito scored his first Inter goal to put the Italians ahead and Alessandro Bastoni made the game safe late on for Christian Chivu’s side.
“In the first half we were surprised by their intensity, aggression and pressure,” Chivu said. “Then in the second half we raised our level of intensity ... we’re strong, confident and have players who can play such a game.”
With Monterrey ahead against Urawa, River needed a winner to progress, but their job got harder when Martinez was sent off after 66 minutes for hacking down veteran Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Six minutes later teenage striker Esposito steered home the opener to leave River on the brink.
Bastoni ensured Inter’s progress as he drilled home, before River’s Gonzalo Montiel picked up a second yellow and was dismissed.
There were ugly scenes at the end as River fans threw objects at Inter players leaving the pitch.
Both Argentine teams at the tournament, River and their rivals Boca Juniors, have been eliminated despite their fans creating vibrant atmospheres.
“It’s a shame for all the people who came en masse to watch the team that we couldn’t give them the chance to keep going,” disappointed River coach Marcelo Gallardo said.
Three goals in a nine-minute first-half spell helped Monterrey defeat Urawa at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, in front of a crowd of just 14,000.
Nelson Deossa smashed home a spectacular long-distance effort to open the scoring and German Berterame rolled the second in at the far post.
Former Porto winger Jesus Corona walloped home the third, and Berterame struck again late on, as the Japanese side departed with three defeats.
Monterrey face Dortmund in Atlanta on Tuesday next week.
A solitary first-half goal by Daniel Svensson earned Dortmund top spot in Group F in sweltering Cincinnati heat.
Their second consecutive victory by a one-goal margin, following their 4-3 defeat of Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday, was watched by a little more than 8,000 spectators in Cincinnati, among them Ohio-native US Vice President J.D. Vance and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
Dortmund coach Niko Kovac has spoken regularly at the tournament about the difficulties posed by the searing June heat in the US.
“What the boys are doing is incredible. Thirty-six degrees Celsius and 43°C in the stadium,” he said.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
RSS