Club World Cup: Fluminense and Monterrey save the Americas' unbeaten streak against European clubs

In a frenetic day of the Club World Cup, the representatives of the Americas once again competed and obtained very good results against European teams. With much merit, Monterrey and Fluminense achieved important draws against Inter Milan, the runner-up in the Champions League, and Borussia Dortmund. Meanwhile, Argentine club River Plate debuted with authority against Urawa Reds, from Japan. With this, the Americas, for the time being, maintain an unbeaten record against the giants of the Europe and continue the strong start in the group stage.

Ramos and Canales star against lackluster Inter side

In the 1-1 draw between Monterrey and Inter, Sergio Ramos was the star of the show with a header in the 25th minute, beating Italian goalkeeper Bastoni and escaping the mark of the veteran Acerbi. Despite being 39 years old, the veteran Spanish defender proved once again that age is just a number, achieving not only the goal, but the man of the match award of the engagement with a dominant performance.

Inter's equalizer came in the 42nd minue, courtesy of Lautaro Martínez, Inter captain, who finished a great collective play and prepared from a free kick on the edge of the area. Despite Inter's dominance of possession, generating five clear goal scoring chances, the Mexican club closed the match better and came close to winning it with a shot against the post by Sergio Canales, who had an excellent second half. The Italian team, on the other hand, looked out of sorts and physically exhausted in the second half, far from the rhythm shown in the European season, which ended in a dismal manner in the Champions League final against PSG.

As a note, this was the first official match for Romanian Cristian Chivu as coach with Inter. The Italian team's historic player will have a lot of work ahead of him both at the Club World Cup and throughout the upcoming European season.

Fluminense deserved more against Dortmund

In another American-European crossover, Fluminense drew 0-0 with Borussia Dortmund, but the result did not reflect at all what happened on the field.

The Brazilian team, by far, was clearly superior during the 90 minutes, generating multiple dangerous chances and making Swiss goalkeeper Gregor Kobel, who was responsible for keeping a clean sheet, the star of the match.

For the Brazilian team, the key players were Jhon Arias, Martinelli and Thiago Silva, another veteran defender who proved that good play has no expiration date. The three of them led an ambitious Brazilian team that earned a solid result against their German rival.

River makes strong debut

River Plate, meanwhile, made a strong start in their group with a 3-1 win over Urawa Reds. Colidio opened the scoring after 12 minutes, and Driussi extended the lead in the 48th, taking advantage of a serious defensive error by the Japanese team. Despite Matsuo's 58th-minute penalty, River did not lose control of the match and sealed it with a goal by Meza in the 73rd minute.

With their victory and the draw between Monterrey and Inter, Marcelo Gallardo's team took the lead in Group E.

Mamelodi Sundowns triumph in thriller

Finally, in perhaps the most exciting match of the day, South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns won by the narrowest of margins against South Korea's Ulsan Hyundai thanks to a goal by Iqraam Rayners. Although the match did not feature big stars or a well-known team, both teams showed stretches of good play and a more than competitive level at the height of the tournament.