Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Marcelo Allende is confident they can overcome Fluminense, in a now must-win game, to advance from Group F in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
The Brazilian side currently top the standings on four points with a superior goal difference over Borussia Dortmund after a 4-2 win over Ulsan HD – who Sundowns beat 1-0 in the opening game.
Meanwhile, Sundowns impressed, but left TQL Stadium in Cincinnati empty handed with a 4-3 loss in the blazing heat on Saturday afternoon for the early kickoff.
Allende, in particular, was one of the standout players, and while the running narrative was the mistakes being capitalised on from Dortmund, in an otherwise impressive Sundowns display, Allende says it was a harsh lesson at this level of the game.
“I think we fought, we know the level of this tournament, we know how big the team is we played, so we fought until the final whistle, we made mistakes but it’s our play, our style, we played until the final in our style, in our way,” he said.
“Of course, of course, always, I think this feeling we could have [achieved] more, but I am very proud of my team after the mistakes, we still played, we fought and scored two goals, so I think something we learn. It’s now recovery and fight again, against Fluminense.
The Chile midfielder says the Brazilian Serie A side will be a good challenge and they will do all they can to reach the knockout stages of the competition, which has been somewhat dominated, thus far, by the South American side as all five Brazilian teams lead their respective groups at present.
“It’s a nice game, against a very good opponent, a very good Brazilian team who like to play, so it will be a nice game.”
“The mistakes we made, against this team, the level there are on, they don’t give nothing, but if you give them one chance, they score, this is what happened in the game.
“So we learn, keep together in the next few days, recover and prepare for the next game. We will fight yes. Big yes [we can do it].”
