DOHA: Roberto Firmino clinched Liverpool’s first Club World Cup title on Saturday, scoring in extra time to seal a 1-0 victory in the final over Flamengo to assert Europe’s footballing dominance over South America.
Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson’s defense-splitting pass picked out Sadio Mane who squared for Firmino to net in the 99th minute and become Liverpool’s savior again in Doha for the second time in three days.
The Brazilian forward also struck in the semifinal victory over Monterrey, giving him two goals in as many games in the 2022 World Cup test-event tournament.
The final went into extra time after finishing 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes.
Looking to lift the trophy for the first time, Liverpool thought they had won a penalty in stoppage time at the end of the game after Sadio Mane appeared to have been caught on his way into the box while taking a shot.
FASTFACTS
• FIFA President Gianni Infantino has defended the decision to award the hosting of his much-vaunted new Club World Cup to China.
• Next year’s competition will be the last in its current format before it goes to China as an expanded 24-team tournament to be held in June and July of 2021.
However, the referee overturned the decision after a VAR review.
Liverpool also had the best chances before, with Roberto Firmino hitting a post and Jordan Henderson being denied by a brilliant Diego Alves save.
Monterrey beat Al-Hilal
Goalkeeper Luis Cardenas was the hero for Mexican side Monterrey as he saved two and then scored the winning shootout spot kick to clinch bronze for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2019, following a 2-2 draw against Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal, fifa.com reported.
Carlos Eduardo and Bafetimbi Gomis scored either side of a quick-fire double from Monterrey, with the 4-3 win on penalties seeing the Mexicans equal their best-ever performance at the Club World Cup, according to the report.
