Club World Cup | Brazilian players beat Brazilian team, Pedro helps Chelsea reach the final with two goals

Qilu Evening News·Qilu One Point Reporter Yin Chengjun

Chelsea's performance in this Club World Cup is impeccable. (Expand) Xinhua News Agency published a game with almost no suspense, a Brazilian player defeated a Brazilian club and helped Chelsea advance to the final of this World Club Cup. At this point, all clubs from South America have been eliminated, and the championship will be won by European clubs without any suspense.

In the first semi-finals of the Club World Cup held on July 9, Chelsea defeated Fluminense 2-0. The goal player was the Brazilian young player Joao Pedro who started his football career from Fluminense.

Fluminense is one of the more dazzling teams in this Club World Cup. Together with Flamengo, Palmeiras and Botafogo, they formed the Samba Legion to strive for the Club World Cup championship. In the group stage, all four teams qualified and their condition was stronger than that of European teams. However, in the quarterfinals, Palmeiras and Botafogo met too early, and Flamengo met the giant Bayern again. In the end, only Fluminense defeated Inter Milan, who was in poor form and entered the quarterfinals with Palmeiras. In the quarterfinals, Palmeiras lost at Chelsea, while Fluminense lived up to expectations and defeated Riyadh Crescent to enter the semi-finals. In this game, Chelsea's lineup was neat. Under the leadership of coach Maresca, he used high-pressure to make Fluminense, who belonged to the South American genre, breathless, and frequently made mistakes that shouldn't have made through the ball.

In the 18th minute, Joo Pedro scored a steal in the midfield and passed the ball to Neto, who dribbled the ball and broke through to a cross near the baseline on the left. Flumenense's legendary defender Thiago Silva cleared the ball. Joo Pedro got the ball and scored the ball. After conceding the goal, Fluminense also organized several attacks to restore the decline as soon as possible, but the effect was not ideal, and his physical strength was gradually lost in the fierce battle. In the 57th minute, Chelsea caught their defensive loophole and passed by Enzo, and Joo Pedro broke into the penalty area and scored a shot, locking the score at 2:0.

Rather than saying that this is a victory for European teams against South American teams, it is better to say that it is a victory for Brazilian players against their hometown teams. Both goals were scored by 23-year-old striker Joao Pedro. The young player was once a member of the Fluminense youth training camp. Because of his outstanding performance, he was spotted by Watford at the age of 18 in 2020, with a transfer fee of 11.5 million euros. From then on, Pedro left his hometown to continue his career in England.

He really became famous after transferring to Brighton in 2023. In June this year, the wealthy Chelsea spent 60 million euros to recruit him. This game was actually just Pedro's second game for representing the "Blue Army".

Pedro's wonderful performance undoubtedly gives Chelsea great confidence in the new season. You should know that in order to return to the peak, the "Blues" spent countless euros and signed several stars, but the results were not ideal. Pedro's emergence is worthy of his value in just one game. After all, after Chelsea entered the finals of the Club World Cup as he wished, even if he won the runner-up, the total prize was at least 100 million euros. Most of the prizes were due to Pedro's two goals.

Ancelotti is the happiest person besides the "Blue Army" executives, coaches and fans. As the head coach of the Brazilian team, he has always been worried about the team's offensive ability. Pedro's brilliant performance has provided him with new ideas to transform the front line.