Fluminense stun Al-Hilal to reach Club World Cup semi-final
Brazil's Fluminense continued their fairy-tale run at the Club World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal on Friday in Orlando, Florida, to book their place in the semi-finals.
The tournament underdogs struck first through Matheus Martinelli in the opening half before Al-Hilal hit back after the break when Marcus Leonardo found the net.
But Fluminense refused to be denied and regained their lead in the 70th minute through Hercules to secure a memorable win over Al-Hilal in the first meeting between the two clubs.
The Brazilian side, who entered the tournament as one of the biggest long shots, will now face the winners of Friday's other quarter-final clash between Palmeiras and Chelsea.
Fluminense opened the scoring when Joao Cancelo failed to clear his line, allowing Gabriel Fuentes to roll the ball to Martinelli who brilliantly picked out the far post with a left-footed strike into the top right corner.
Al-Hilal made a quick start to the second half and drew level after a push header from a wide-open Kalidou Koulibaly hit the legs of Leonardo, who quickly reset his feet and fired home from in close.
Hercules, who scored off the bench in the last-16 win over Inter Milan, came in for Martinelli after the break and struck again when he took a brilliant touch into the area and fired into the bottom corner.
Top stories
Swipe. Select. Stay informed.
Singapore PAP has begun search for new candidates; PM Wong hopes to deploy them earlier ahead of next GE
Singapore 20 retired MPs spoke up on many issues in Parliament, helped successors prepare for new role: PM Wong
Singapore $3b money laundering case: 9 financial institutions handed $27.45m in MAS penalties over breaches
Singapore Banks tighten vigilance and processes following $3b money laundering case
Asia JB petrol station shooting: Dead man with bullet wounds dumped at hospital
Singapore Trilateral work group formed to address allegations of foreigners illegally taking on platform work
Singapore Power distribution system in renewal project may be linked to Bukit Panjang LRT disruption: SMRT
Singapore Rise in number of scam e-mails claiming to be from Cardinal William Goh: Catholic Church
The match began with players and fans observing a minute's silence in memory of Liverpool's Portuguese forward Diogo Jota and his younger brother Andre Silva, who both died in a car crash on Thursday. REUTERS
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
38 minutes ago
- CNA
'Rarely been so angry': Bayern boss Kompany seethes over Musiala injury
ATLANTA :Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany said he was furious after Jamal Musiala sustained a horrific injury during the first half of their Club World Cup quarter-final defeat by Paris St Germain in Atlanta on Saturday. The 22-year-old Germany international was injured in added time before the break following a collision in PSG's penalty area. As Musiala challenged defender William Pacho for the ball, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inadvertently rolled over Musiala's left ankle, twisting it at an alarming angle and leaving him lying in agony on the pitch. "I've rarely been so angry at halftime, not against my players. There's many things in life that are important, much more important than this. But in the end, for these guys it's their life," Kompany told reporters after the 2-0 loss. "And someone like Jamal lives for this and he came back from a setback. And then it happens in the way it happens and you feel powerless... "When I'm sat here next to you now, the thing that gets my blood still boiling at the moment, it's not the result. I understand this is football. But it's the fact that it happened to someone who, one, enjoys the game so much but also very important for us." Bayern's medical team rushed on to the pitch as Donnarumma, visibly shaken, dropped to the ground with his hands on his head in disbelief at the severity of the injury. Players from both teams formed a circle around Musiala who was carried off the field on a stretcher. The German daily Bild reported he could be sidelined for up to five months. Bayern goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer said Donnarumma's dive was "risky" and that he had spoken to his Italian counterpart after the incident. "You just accept that your opponent might get injured. It could even be a teammate," he added. "So I went over to him and said: 'Don't you want – because it was half-time anyway – don't you want to go over there? Jamal is lying there, he'll probably stay in the hospital, he has a serious injury, and I think it's only right to go over there out of respect and wish him well and just say a little sorry.' "After that, he went over to Jamal... Fairness is always important, and I would have reacted differently."
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
'Rarely been so angry': Bayern boss Kompany seethes over Musiala injury
ATLANTA - Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany said he was furious after Jamal Musiala sustained a horrific injury during the first half of their Club World Cup quarter-final defeat by Paris St Germain in Atlanta on Saturday. The 22-year-old Germany international was injured in added time before the break following a collision in PSG's penalty area. As Musiala challenged defender William Pacho for the ball, goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inadvertently rolled over Musiala's left ankle, twisting it at an alarming angle and leaving him lying in agony on the pitch. "I've rarely been so angry at halftime, not against my players. There's many things in life that are important, much more important than this. But in the end, for these guys it's their life," Kompany told reporters after the 2-0 loss. "And someone like Jamal lives for this and he came back from a setback. And then it happens in the way it happens and you feel powerless... "When I'm sat here next to you now, the thing that gets my blood still boiling at the moment, it's not the result. I understand this is football. But it's the fact that it happened to someone who, one, enjoys the game so much but also very important for us." Bayern's medical team rushed on to the pitch as Donnarumma, visibly shaken, dropped to the ground with his hands on his head in disbelief at the severity of the injury. Players from both teams formed a circle around Musiala who was carried off the field on a stretcher. The German daily Bild reported he could be sidelined for up to five months. Bayern goalkeeper and captain Manuel Neuer said Donnarumma's dive was "risky" and that he had spoken to his Italian counterpart after the incident. "You just accept that your opponent might get injured. It could even be a teammate," he added. "So I went over to him and said: 'Don't you want – because it was half-time anyway – don't you want to go over there? Jamal is lying there, he'll probably stay in the hospital, he has a serious injury, and I think it's only right to go over there out of respect and wish him well and just say a little sorry.' "After that, he went over to Jamal... Fairness is always important, and I would have reacted differently." After the match, Donnarumma posted on Instagram: "All my prayers and well wishes are with you Jamal." REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Secret service in US expands a global push against crypto scams
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The scam began with a message, then a friendly exchange. A stranger directed the victim to a cryptocurrency investment site that appeared professional – slick design, charts, even customer support. The first deposit showed a modest profit. So did the next. Encouraged, the victim sent more, even borrowing money to keep up. Then, without warning, the platform stopped responding. The account balance disappeared. 'That's how they do it,' Ms Jamie Lam, an investigative analyst with the US Secret Service, told law enforcement officials in Bermuda in June. 'They'll send you a photo of a really good-looking guy or girl. But it's probably some old guy in Russia.' Secret Service investigators traced the fraud to the domain name behind the fake investment site. Using open-source tools, they found out when it was registered, by whom and how it had been paid for. A cryptocurrency payment pointed them to another wallet. A brief VPN failure exposed an IP address. Ms Lam is part of the agency's Global Investigative Operations Center or GIOC, a team specialising in digital financial crimes. Their tools are software, subpoenas, and spreadsheets, not badges or guns. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore First BTO project in Sembawang North to be offered in July launch Singapore TTSH to demolish century-old pavilion wards, keeping one as heritage marker World 'Formed to give you back your freedom': Elon Musk says he has created a new US political party Singapore Tank collides into traffic light during NDP preview show Singapore His world crashed when he got F9 in O-level Tamil but PropNex co-founder Ismail Gafoor beat the odds Asia HIV surge in the Philippines amid poor sex education, policy gaps Tech Graduates are not screwed if they study engineering: James Dyson in response to Economist article Business When a foreign wife failed to turn up for a $10m divorce 'It's not always that hard,' Ms Lam said. 'Sometimes you just need patience.' Patience and digital tools have helped the GIOC seize nearly US$400 million (S$510 million) in digital assets over the last decade, a figure not previously reported, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations. Much of that trove sits in a single cold-storage wallet that now ranks among the most valuable anywhere. After leading crackdowns on digital currencies such as Liberty Reserve and E-Gold in the 1990s, the agency best known for protecting US presidents has become one of the world's biggest crypto custodians. At the centre of the operation is Ms Kali Smith, a lawyer who directs the Secret Service's cryptocurrency strategy. Her team has conducted workshops in more than 60 countries to train local law enforcers and prosecutors in unmasking digital crimes. The agency targets jurisdictions where criminals exploit weak oversight or residency-for-sale programs, and provides the training for free. 'Sometimes after just a week-long training, they can be like, 'Wow, we didn't even realize that this is occurring in our country,'' she said. In July, the team flew to Bermuda, a British overseas territory that has marketed itself to digital-asset firms with one of the world's most comprehensive crypto frameworks – and exposed itself to new threats in the process. 'Technologies and financial services are fantastic for economic growth, but they can also be exploited,' Bermuda governor Andrew Murdoch said in an interview. 'Alongside the benefits, you need strong investigative powers to deal with abuse under the law.' Inside a conference room on a hill overlooking Hamilton Harbor, Ms Smith told her class that scam victims usually see opportunity. 'They think they can use Bitcoin and be safe. But that isn't the case,' she said. One real-life case involved an Idaho teenager who thought he was flirting online and sent a nude photo to a stranger. The stranger then demanded US$300 or the image would be sent to his relatives. He paid twice before going to police. GIOC analysts reconstructed the extortion with screenshots, receipts and blockchain data. Payments had been routed through another American teenager coerced into acting as a money mule, then funneled to an account that had processed about US$4.1 million across nearly 6,000 transactions and was registered to a Nigerian passport, according to an analyst who asked not to be named because the investigation is ongoing. British officers arrested the suspected extortionist when he landed in Guildford, England. He remains in custody awaiting extradition, the analyst said. Fraud tied to digital currencies now drives a majority of US internet-crime losses. Americans reported US$9.3 billion in crypto-related scams in 2024, more than half of the US$16.6 billion logged that year, FBI data show. Older victims bore the largest share, losing nearly US$2.8 billion, much of it to bogus investment sites. Some schemes spill into real-world violence. In New York, two investors were indicted for allegedly kidnapping and torturing a longtime friend inside a townhouse to force access to his digital wallet. In Connecticut, six men were charged with abducting the parents of a teenage hacker who had stolen US$245 million in Bitcoin, beating them in a failed ransom attempt. To claw back stolen funds, the Secret Service leans on industry partners. Coinbase and Tether have publicly acknowledged assisting in recent cases, providing trace analysis and wallet freezes. One of the largest recoveries involved $225 million in USDT, the dollar-pegged token known as Tether, linked to romance-investment scams. 'We've been following the money for 160 years,' said Mr Patrick Freaney, head of the agency's New York field office, which oversees Bermuda. 'This training is part of that mission.' BLOOMBERG
