Late Internacional goal ousts Al-Ahly

 

TOKYO (GoPharaohs.com) - Tokyo stadium was the venue of what could have been a historical defeat of South American football against its African rival. African champions Al-Ahly of Egypt lost to South American champions Internacional of Brazil from a late goal in the 72nd minute after both teams were deadlocked at one goal a piece.

The victory puts Internacional in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup to play against the winner of the Barcelona (of Spain) vs. Club America (of Mexico) semi-final match. While Al-Ahly will have to settle for the 3rd place match against the loser.

The final scoreline was not an indication of how things played out during the game. Al-Ahly was more dangerous and missed a few opportunities to score early. It was Internacional that snatched a goal first however in the 24th minute when Pato ceased the opportunity from a bad pass by Hassan Mostapha.

Clemer, the Internacional goalkeeper, and sometimes his goal posts, did a great job of fighting off all of Al-Ahly’s numerous attempts on goal. The first half ended 1-0.

Soon after the second half began and Al-Ahly found themselves back in the game through a great header by Flavio to level the scoreline back to 1-1. The South American champs did not relent however. Adriano, who came in for Alexandre Pato scored the winning goal for Internacional and maintained the clean sheet for Brazilian teams in the FIFA CWC.