Fresh from an encouraging draw with Borussia Dortmund in the opening round of games, Fluminense will be looking to get their first win of the Club World Cup when they face off against Ulsan HD in New Jersey. Ulsan themselves will be looking to jumpstart a tournament that began in defeat to Mamelodi Sundowns, their hope of reaching the knockout stages surely contingent on getting a win against the Brazilians.
Fluminense did, however, look to be a tough nut to crack for Dortmund, who were held to just 0.24 expected goals in the Group F opener, Thiago Silva belying his 40 years with an authoritative display in central defense. Had Everaldo sparked at the other end, this could have been a famous day for the side from Rio De Janeiro.
Ulsan HD, meanwhile, disappointed in Orlando, only infrequently controlling the game after going down to a first half goal from South African giants Mamelodi Sundowns. This was perhaps the most important game of the competition for the South Koreans, as their coach acknowledged afterwards. “We had targeted this game to win because we understand the other two teams in the group, Fluminense and Borussia Dortmund, are favourites,” said Pan-gon Kim. “Our players gave their best efforts in this game and we’re very proud of their efforts. Now we need to recover quickly for the next game.”
If they do not, this could be a very brief and underwhelming stay in America for the five-time K League champions.
Viewing information
- Date: Saturday, June 21 | Time: 6 p.m. ET
- Location: MetLife Stadium — East Rutherford, NJ
- Live stream: Watch on DAZN (for free)
- Odds: Fluminense -333; Draw +380; Ulsan HD +900
Last meeting
This will be the first competitive meeting between the two teams.
Predicted lineups
Fluminense: Fabio; Samuel Xavier, Thiago Silva, Juan Freytes, Rene; Nonato, Hercules, Martinelli; Jhon Arias, Everaldo, Agustin Canobbio
Ulsan HD: Hyeon-Woo Jo; Milosz Trojak, Myeong-Kwan Seo, Young-Gwon Kim, Gustav Ludwigson; Chung-Yong Lee, Woo-Young Jung, Darijan Bojancic, Seung-Beom Ko; Won-Sang Um, Erick Farias
Player to watch
Thiago Silva, Fluminense: You would never have believed watching Thiago Silva against Borussia Dortmund that he had not come straight from his prime years at AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain. The veteran Brazilian looked 10 or more years younger than his 40 years of age, winning 9 of 11 duels and making three interceptions. He will hope for a quieter game this time out.
Storyline to watch
Will the crowds come out? MetLife saw just 34,736 of its 82,500 seats filled for its previous game in Group F and that was probably the showpiece encounter from the quartet. Meanwhile, fewer than 3,500 were at Ulsan HD’s game against Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando. Much of that can be explained by the fact these games were weekday, daytime occasions, but a game like this on a Saturday afternoon should offer a bit more of a sense to FIFA as to whether the less illustrious games at next summer’s World Cup will still draw big crowds.
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