Journalist compares Vinícius Júnior with Neymar in the national team and says: "It's not extraordinary"

Fluminense is in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup. With goals from Cano and Hércules, the Tricolor beat Inter Milan this Monday, 2-0, and sealed their advance to the knockout stages of the tournament. Renato Gaúcho's team now awaits the winner of Manchester City vs. Al-Hilal.

SUMMARY

Fluminense needed little time to open the scoring against Inter. Two minutes in, Arias received the ball from Martinelli, advanced down the right and crossed. The ball deflected off Bastoni, and Cano, who completed 200 games for Tricolor today, took advantage of the chance to score the first goal of the match.

The team from Rio also missed a chance to extend their lead with Samuel Xavier, who shot just wide of Sommer's goal. Ignácio managed to score the second goal after a three-touch header in the box, but the move was disallowed due to the defender being offside. Inter had their best chances with long balls behind the defense. In one of the most dangerous plays for the Italians, Mkhitaryan received the ball in the box on the left and passed it to Dimarco, but Fábio saved it . Before the end of the first half, there was a brief scuffle between Renato Gaúcho and Mkhitaryan.

The first big chance of the second half came again in Fluminense's favor and through Cano's feet, in the 11th minute. Minutes later, Arias forced Sommer to perform a miracle with a bomb from outside the area. As the second half progressed, following the substitution rounds, Inter Milan grew in the game and began to put pressure on Fluminense - there were at least five clear chances. De Vrij missed an unbelievable shot in the six-yard box, and Lautaro had three clear chances in a three-minute interval - one of which hit the post.

In injury time, Hércules sealed the victory over Inter. Samuel Xavier took a throw-in, De Vrij headed the ball and the ball went past everyone before falling to the Tricolor midfielder. Hércules controlled the ball and invaded the area before shooting with his left foot, missing Sommer's goal! End of story in Charlotte.

AND NOW?

Fluminense now has to face either Manchester City or Al-Hilal. If the English team gets through, it will be a repeat of the Club World Cup in 2023, where the tricolor succumbed to the power of the blue side of Manchester, with Guardiola and his team.

On Monday afternoon (30), Flamengo's football director José Boto published a text on his Instagram account taking stock of the red-black team's campaign in the Club World Cup . The Mais Querido fell after losing to Bayern Munich, 4-2.

Boto about the red-blacks: "Thanks to our fans, who never stopped supporting the team"

WITH THE WORD....

"A journey with which we should be satisfied and proud has come to an end. We return home with the knowledge that we are a strong team, of great value and capable of competing at the highest level of world football," wrote the director.

THANKS

"Thank you to our fans, who never stopped supporting the team at every moment of the competition and in every city in the United States, Brazil and the world, because Flamengo is a Nation. Now, we need to recover well and prepare for the next challenges, because we want to achieve important goals this season. Strength, Flamengo !" he concluded.

Now, Flamengo will focus its efforts on the rest of the season and José Boto will have a window to further strengthen the red-black squad. Colombian Jorge Carrascal is close to being hired. The Delegation will leave for Rio de Janeiro this Monday (30), at 10 pm (Brasília time), with arrival scheduled for 6:30 am. Disembarkation will take place in the international hall of RIOGaleão Airport. The team will return to training on Saturday morning, at 9:30 am, at CT George Helal.

On Monday afternoon, Flamengo issued an official statement, repudiating and denying an article published after the elimination to Bayern Munich in the Club World Cup , which said that the red-black board would not have liked Arrascaeta's entry as a starter, that is, criticizing the line-up of coach Filipe Luís.

FOLLOW THE NOTE IN FULL

" The Clube de Regatas do Flamengo repudiates the content published by journalist Diogo Dantas in his column in the newspaper O Globo, this Monday (30), entitled Behind the scenes: Flamengo's board feared that Filipe Luís would field Arrascaeta and disapproved of the strategy against Bayern. The text in question does not find any support in the reality of Flamengo's football environment and lacks veracity in its premises and conclusions.

Unfortunately, this is yet another example of a practice that is already recurrent, which insists on transforming speculation and personal impressions into “news”, with the sole objective of generating engagement, clicks and audience, even if this compromises the credibility of the information and respect for the professionals involved.

Since the beginning of 2025, Flamengo has adopted an attitude of absolute professionalism in football, without any interference from managers in its routine and environment. The team's delegation at the FIFA Club World Cup is an example of this, since all 78 members are Flamengo employees, which reinforces the discrepancy between what was published and the truth.

The club reaffirms its full confidence in De Arrascaeta, one of the team's leaders, who is enjoying one of his best seasons at Flamengo, and also in the decisions and leadership of coach Filipe Luís, who has full autonomy to make decisions. The season's numbers leave no doubt: first place in the Brazilian Championship with the number 10 leading the competition's scoring charts, titles in the Carioca and the Brazilian Super Cup, in addition to qualifying for the round of 16 of the CONMEBOL Libertadores and the Brazilian Cup.

We will remain firm in our commitment to the truth, to respecting our athletes and to valuing the serious work that has been done by all the professionals at Clube de Regatas do Flamengo."

RUBRO-NEGRO LEAVES FOR RIO THIS MONDAY

The delegation will depart for Rio de Janeiro this Monday (30), at 10 pm (Brasília time), with arrival scheduled for 6:30 am. Disembarkation will take place at the international hall of RIOGaleão Airport. The team will return to training on Saturday morning, at 9:30 am, at CT George Helal.