A fine left-foot finish from Matheus Martinelli had put the Rio club ahead in the 40th minute but Al Hilal’s Brazilian forward Marcos Leonardo levelled six minutes into the second half before Hercules stole the show to the delight of the vast majority of the 43,091 crowd.
Fluminense could yet face an all-Brazilian semi-final if their rivals from Sao Paulo, Palmeiras, are able to overcome Premier League outfit Chelsea in Friday’s other quarter-final.
Al Hilal had pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament, beating Manchester City 4-3, to reach the last eight and Simone Inzaghi’s side fought hard until the end to keep their adventure alive.
They bow out of the tournament having been unbeaten through the group stage, including holding Real Madrid to a draw, and having truly made their mark on the world stage.
There was a moment’s silence before the kick-off in memory of Liverpool and Portugal forward Diogo Jota and his younger brother Andre Silva, who died in the early hours of Thursday after their car veered off a motorway in Spain and burst into flames.
Al Hilal’s line-up featured two of Jota’s Portugal team-mates in Ruben Neves and Joao Cancelo.
The first half was a tight and tactical affair with few chances until Martinelli opened the scoring when he picked the ball up from Gabriel Fuentes inside the box and span out to give himself space for a left-foot shot that rocketed past Yassine Bounou.
Al Hilal went close to a quick response when Kalidou Koulibaly’s header forced Fluminense’s 44-year-old goalkeeper Fabio into a fine save.
The Saudi side were awarded a penalty when Samuel Xavier was ruled to have brought down Marcos Leonardo in the box but Dutch referee Danny Makkelie was eventually sent to the monitor where he overturned his own decision after seeing there had been no contact between the two players.
After going in at the break trailing by a goal, Al Hilal came out strongly for the second half and drew level when Koulibaly headed a Neves corner down to Marcos Leonardo who poked home.
Al Hilal’s Brazilian full back Renan Lodi had a let off when his poor backpass fell straight at the feet of German Cano but the Fluminense striker’s attempt to round Bounou was denied by the smart work of the Moroccan keeper.
But the outcome was settled with 20 minutes remaining when half-time sub Hercules saw a shot from distance blocked but from the loose ball Samuel headed the ball back to the forward who raced into the box and fired past Bounou to make it 2-1.
Al Hilal produced a flurry of corners and some intense pressure in the final minutes as they desperately sought a way to keep their dream alive but the Brazilians were good value for their victory.
– Work and commitment –
“We didn’t have many chances but we made the most of them, the entire group worked and were committed,” said Fluminense coach Renato Gaucho.
“Our fans here in the USA and those in Brazil, they can be proud and I ask them to wear a jersey, in the mall, street, beach, wherever, wear that shirt – they should all be proud to wear that jersey,” he said.
The Fluminense coach was full of praise for the performance of his 40-year-old central defender Thiago Silva who ensured the Brazilians were able to withstand the second half pressure from Al Hilal.
“Thiago Silva is huge for us, I worked with him 15 years ago, he is a coach on the pitch, very helpful and conveys calm and experience to the others. He is our captain and a leader and in hard matches like these against big clubs, its important to have people like him. He is key and fundamental,” he said.
Al Hilal coach Inzaghi said his side had been unfortunate to end on the losing side.
“It has been a good World Cup for us but clearly we leave with a little bit of a bitter taste in our mouth because after what happened in that second half, we deserved much more,” he said.
“It was a tight match, decided by episodes, as happens in football. Fluminense are very well organised team that are having an excellent tournament,” he added. (AFP)
