Author: Serg Atrakhov, Vishwajit Sawant
In a stunning turnaround, Fluminense booked their place in the Libertadores final with a heroic comeback against Internacional at a packed Beira-Rio stadium. The team from Rio de Janeiro won 2-1 on Wednesday, setting the stage for their second appearance in the final.
The match got off to an intense start when Mercado, Internacional’s defender, took advantage of a stumble by goalkeeper Fábio and opened the scoring in the ninth minute. The events unfolded like this: Fábio deflected Wanderson’s shot for a corner, and Alan Patrick put Mercado in – 1-0.
Internacional had chances to extend their lead in the second half. Striker Enner Valencia missed two clear chances to score, but shot wide of the post both times. Also, in the 68th minute, his shot on target was saved by the goalkeeper. Despite their dominance, the team failed to capitalize, allowing Fluminense to pull off their remarkable comeback.
In the 81st minute, German Cano found John Kennedy with a precise pass, who elegantly chipped the ball over the goalkeeper who had come out of his goal – 1:1. Just five minutes later, the roles changed: Kennedy passed the ball to Cano, and he beat Sergio Rocheta with a precise shot into the left corner – 1:2! It should be noted that it was Cano’s excellent tackling throughout the tournament that played a decisive role for Flu. Cano, who has scored 12 goals, is currently the top scorer in the current game.
Inter managed to equalize and take the match to a penalty shootout. In the 92nd minute, Luis Adriano’s header from a corner hit the crossbar, but the goalkeeper saved the ball with an impressive leap. Let’s add that, in the 97th minute, Kennedy got in on a counter-attack but couldn’t beat the goalkeeper one-on-one.
For participating in the 2023 Copa Libertadores, Internacional won 9 million 150 thousand dollars in prize money. Fluminense have already earned 16 million 150 thousand (including 7 million for reaching the final). Victory in the final will earn the club another 11 million.
Fluminense’s opponents in the Copa Libertadores final on November 4 at the iconic Maracanã stadium will be Boca Juniors. This is the second time in Fluminense’s history that they have played in the Copa Libertadores final and, remarkably, both times they have had the honor of doing so in their own stadium.