{"id":656744,"date":"2025-07-09T02:13:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T06:13:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=656744"},"modified":"2025-07-09T02:13:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T06:13:54","slug":"chelseas-south-american-core-knocks-fluminense-out-of-club-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2025\/07\/09\/chelseas-south-american-core-knocks-fluminense-out-of-club-world-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"Chelsea&#8217;s South American Core Knocks Fluminense Out of Club World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Much has been written about the amazing tournament run by <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2025\/07\/06\/is-the-2025-fifa-club-world-cup-a-turning-point-for-world-football\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Brazilian sides<\/a> in the 2025 Club World Cup, but that run came to an end Tuesday as Chelsea blanked Fluminense 2-0, finally ending the Cinderella story of the tournament&#8217;s most surprising side. Chelsea can now add to their 2025 trophy cabinet after winning the UEFA Conference League, and they face PSG or Real Madrid in the Club World Cup final \u2014 a culmination of the club\u2019s massive spending and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.soyfutbol.com\/en\/news\/Chelseas-70M-Dilemma-Why-Big-Transfers-Could-Cost-Them-a-Champions-League-Spot-20250707-0019.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">aggressive transfer policies<\/a> that have built one of the largest and most diverse squads in world football.<\/p>\n<h3>Jo\u00e3o Pedro Shines Against Former Club<\/h3>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2223572344\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2223572344?et=LLRIOWKPSvdrHyCEnRBpVA&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=ZW8Xw9WOpdP7h78lXYqF1qRC5EnBzuyopk4zyIc4b0M=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The semifinal at MetLife Stadium in New York\/New Jersey was played under intense heat and afternoon sun. Chelsea\u2019s new signing, Jo\u00e3o Pedro, shined brightest. Making his debut as a starter, the S\u00e3o Paulo-born forward who spent nearly a decade at Fluminense was the dagger to his former club\u2019s chances.<\/p>\n<p>The 23-year-old was named man of the match, scoring in both halves. Fluminense remained competitive but never gained a foothold. They nearly earned a penalty on a handball, overturned by VAR, and had another shot cleared off the line by Marc Cucurella.<\/p>\n<p>Pedro\u2019s goals effectively justified his \u20ac60 million transfer fee in just one match. After the game, he spoke warmly of Fluminense, saying <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/sports\/other\/jo%C3%A3o-pedro-doesnt-celebrate-goals-for-chelsea-saying-former-team-gave-everything-to-me\/ar-AA1Ie7db\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cWhen I was young, I didn&#8217;t have nothing. They gave everything to me.\u201d<\/a> Despite being heavy underdogs, Fluminense showed confidence. Their star, Colombian Jhon Arias, was in <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/giraltpablo\/status\/1942701763145990605\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">tears after the match<\/a>, feeling he had let down the passionate fans.<\/p>\n<h3>South American Stars Dominate in US Heat<\/h3>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2223592416\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2223592416?et=PCEYiMMYTHR7KI_D_KfdSw&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=lb1uXnAKukIhddTXsXCz8zffJhBrK1PqCUWkX2dLu7M=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Chelsea\u2019s win doesn\u2019t diminish the shine of South American football in this tournament. Ahead of the 2026 World Cup in North America, Chelsea\u2019s South American midfield duo, captain Enzo Fernandez (Argentina) and Mois\u00e9s Caicedo (Ecuador), controlled the match, while Pedro (Brazil) scored both goals. The midfield shift is what gave Chelsea the advantage.<\/p>\n<p>Fluminense\u2019s Arias, ageless captain Thiago Silva, and Argentine Germ\u00e1n Cano stood out for their side. Meanwhile, the other semifinal between PSG and Real Madrid also features CONMEBOL stars including Marquinhos (PSG) and Federico Valverde (Uruguay). Caicedo\u2019s Ecuadorian teammate Willian Pacho (PSG) was suspended after a red card.<\/p>\n<h3>CONMEBOL Talent Shining on the World Stage<\/h3>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2223631708\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 72.89562% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2223631708?et=2U3l2XaoQlh1ApqcSg_AHw&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=lGX1oGyBl-rkW49o6FUnjzvrLey462X1J1EdyVgaGM4=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"433\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Chelsea manager Enzo Maresco was <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MenInBlazers\/status\/1942361425877282884\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">stunned earlier in the week<\/a> to learn Brazilian clubs like Fluminense had played more matches this season than Chelsea (70 vs 63). This tournament has allowed CONMEBOL talents to shine \u2014 with Colombian Nelson Deossa (Monterrey), Richard R\u00edos (Palmeiras), and Arias (Fluminense) attracting bigger transfer interest.<\/p>\n<p>Estev\u00e3o, a future Chelsea player at Palmeiras, scored against his own club, while Venezuelan Tedasco Segovia made an impact for Inter Miami alongside Brazilian Igor Jesus from Botafogo. Argentine-born but Mexico-eligible Germ\u00e1n Berterame scored multiple goals for Monterrey. Future Real Madrid man Franco Mastantuono showed promise for River Plate, and Brazilian Marcos Leonardo was a key figure in Al-Hilal\u2019s magical run.<\/p>\n<h3>Growing Respect for South American Football<\/h3>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2222549989\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2222549989?et=-SWikkyUQ0JmQZBUz1ASKg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=OZ5bMaUiI_niMp8qX6JwVwIl3dJ1TEqm15chbRyJWuE=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>With every Brazilian club impressing and disappointing results from Boca Juniors and River Plate forcing them to pursue aggressive transfer policies, worldwide fans have gained greater respect for the Copa Libertadores and South American leagues. South America\u2019s World Cup qualifiers are already the toughest, but the quality of football played has also improved. Caicedo, Pedro, and Fernandez were molded in South America before shining at Chelsea. The question in South America is, can any other league <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MaxBretosSports\/status\/1942690799797559355\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">challenge Brazil&#8217;s dominance<\/a>?<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo Credit: IMAGO \/ Maciej Rogowski<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Much has been written about the amazing tournament run by Brazilian sides in the 2025 Club World Cup, but that run came to an end Tuesday as Chelsea blanked Fluminense 2-0, finally ending the Cinderella story of the tournament&#8217;s most surprising side. Chelsea can now add to their 2025 trophy cabinet after winning the UEFA [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1442,"featured_media":655642,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,2,2132],"tags":[32322,46,32748,1701,32500,3100,9273,2996,32369,2995,7475,32501],"class_list":["post-656744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chelsea","category-featured","category-world-cup","tag-2025-club-world-cup","tag-chelsea","tag-chelsea-fixtures","tag-club-world-cup","tag-conembol","tag-copa-libertadores","tag-enzo-fernandez","tag-fluminense","tag-jhon-arias","tag-joao-pedro","tag-moises-caicedo","tag-south-american-football"],"modified_by":"Steen Kirby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656744"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":656745,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656744\/revisions\/656745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}