Dortmund’s second straight victory by a one-goal margin, following their 4-3 defeat of Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday, was watched by only just over 8,000 spectators in Cincinnati, among them US Vice President JD Vance and Ffia chief Gianni Infantino.
It means Dortmund qualify for the last 16 as winners of Group F, while Fluminense go through behind them in second after holding off Sundowns in a goalless stalemate played at the same time in Miami.
“We can be satisfied. I think our performance was better than in the first two matches,” said Dortmund coach Niko Kovac.
He has spoken regularly at the tournament about the difficulties posed by the searing June heat in the United States, and this was another game played in sweltering mid-afternoon conditions.
“We keep saying the same thing. What the boys are doing is incredible. Thirty-six degrees Celsius and 43 degrees in the stadium. This is incredible,” Kovac said.
“Even if you just stand around it can get very taxing but I think they are doing a great job,” he added. “Now we have a day off and I hope the players recover for the next match.”
Kovac only made two changes to his starting line-up as Karim Adeyemi and Julian Ryerson came in, while Jobe Bellingham kept his place in the team.
The Bundesliga giants should have won by a greater margin on another hot day in Cincinnati, but Serhou Guirassy was denied by a good Jo Hyeon-woo save on 27 minutes.
Bellingham then fizzed a volley just over from an Adeyemi cross moments later, but the crucial goal arrived on 36 minutes – soft defending by Ulsan saw the Koreans lose possession on the edge of their own box before Bellingham teed up Svensson and the Swede fired in low on his left foot.
Guirassy, who has had a prolific season, should have scored in first-half stoppage time with a header from close range which was straight at the goalkeeper.
Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel was then called into action on the hour mark to deny Lee Jin-hyun, while Yan Couto came close to making it 2-0 late on.
Kovac’s team will now play their last-16 tie in Atlanta next Tuesday and will find out the identity of their opponents later on Wednesday when Group E concludes.
“Now we have to leave everything on the pitch. The stakes are high. It is about prestige and money. I think we will see an increase in quality,” said Kovac.
Ulsan go home with three defeats from three games, while Fluminense are through, meaning all four Brazilian teams in the competition have progressed to the knockout phase.
Conditions were also tough in Miami, where captain Jhon Arias flashed a shot across the face of goal and wide for Fluminense late in the first half.
German Cano came close for the Rio de Janeiro side after the break, while Sundowns enjoyed more of the possession over the 90 minutes but could not get the win they needed to progress in front of a crowd of 14,312.
Their exit means none of the four African clubs who came to the tournament will feature in the last 16, but Sundowns’ performances mean they can go home with their heads held high.
“We are not happy. We had a clear objective in this match, but I am very proud of the level the players performed at,” said the South African champions’ coach, Miguel Cardoso.
“We leave and go home with our heads up because we are much stronger than we were when we came here,” he added. (AFP)
