The road for Mamelodi Sundowns at the Fifa Club World Cup came to an end after they were held to a goalless draw by Fluminense FC at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on Wednesday night.
The result means that Sundowns finished Group F on number three with four points, while Fluminense advanced as runners-up with five points. Borussia Dortmund won the group with seven points after their 1-0 win over Ulsan HD.
Sundowns coach Miguel Cardoso named an unchanged starting line-up from the team that went pound for pound against Dortmund last weekend, with Iqraam Rayners leading the attack alongside Tashreeq Matthews and dribbling wizard Lucas Ribeiro.
Despite being expected to start on the backfoot against the Brazilian powerhouse, Masandawana in fact did the opposite and were all over Fluminense inside 10 minutes.
The PSL champions could have gotten an early lead when Matthews squandered a one-on-one golden opportunity and saw his effort saved by the goalkeeper. Cardoso’s side continued to dictate play and dominated the ball possession, without giving much away to their opponents.
However, Fluminense eventually grew into the game, and it was end-to-end stuff, but neither side could break the deadlock and went into the break goalless.
Cardoso made one change going into the second half, with Jayden Adams coming on for Teboho Mokoena, who was skating on thin ice after picking up a yellow card in the first stanza.
In the 59th minute, Sundowns almost had a heart-to-mouth moment when Fluminense struck the woodwork.
The ending to the game was more tense as Sundowns were pushing in desperation for that sucker punch to go further in the competition, but it was not meant to be, as Fluminense held on until the final whistle to end Masandawana’s journey.
Sundowns may have been knocked out in the group stages of the tournament but have won the hearts of many for their brave and quality football they displayed in the US.
