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24 min: Barella sashays elegantly down the middle of the park, sidestepping a couple of challenges with a swivel of the hips. He then wedges a pass down the left channel for Thuram, who meets the ball dropping over his shoulder with a wild volley that disappears into the stand behind. Nice move, though.
23 min: Nonato and Xavier exchange passes down the right, a rare Fluminense attack. It peters out when Bastoni comes across to usher the ball over the byline.
22 min: An Inter corner comes in from the left. Ignacio clears with ease. The Italians are dominating possession, but not creating too much.
21 min: Martinez and Mkhitaryan try to combine down the left, but get it all wrong under no pressure and the ball sails apologetically out for a throw. Both men hang their head. A bit early for the old despair, lads.
19 min: Dimarco makes a nuisance of himself down the left and loops a cross into the mixer. There’s nobody in blue and black in the box, but Fabio flaps at the ball anyway. Had an Inter player taken a gamble, he’d have had a tap-in. But the keeper gets away with his error.
17 min: Barella nicks the ball off Arias, who tugs him back. It’s a free kick, clearly, but for some reason Cano is beyond livid at its award, and picks up a booking for telling the referee how he sees it. That’s a preposterous reaction to a garden-variety free kick in the middle of the park. What a daft yellow.
15 min: Inter knock it around the back patiently. Fluminense more than happy to let them do it.
13 min: Barella crosses low from the right. Thuram attempts to control and turn, but the ball clanks through to Fabio.
11 min: Inter nearly equalise. Barella sprays a lovely pass down the inside-left channel for Mkhitaryan, who enters the box, swivels, and cuts back for Dimarco, who lashes a first-time drive goalwards. It’s well hit, but also well met by Fabio, who parries clear with strong hands.
9 min: … and there you go. Asllani stretches for a ball he’s miscontrolled and scissors Nonato’s leg. He’s booked; he could easily have been sent packing for that. He’ll not play in the quarter-final should Inter get there.
7 min: Darmian comes through the back of Cano, and is fortunate not to go into the book. Inter have already committed a couple of fouls, so their next miscreant might not be so fortunate.
5 min: Inter try to reply immediately, Darmian making good down the right. But his cross is no use. What a start by Flu, though; the Brazilians, well, flew out of the traps and got right up in Inter’s collective grille. They got their reward.
GOAL! Inter 0-1 Fluminense (Cano 3)
Cano gets his reward this time! And once again, Inter’s defence is all over the shop. Martinelli wins the ball out on the right off De Vrij and sets Arias away down the flank. His cross takes a huge deflection off Dimarco and loops into the middle. Nobody in the Inter defence reacts, everyone stock still, allowing Cano to stoop and head home unchallenged from a couple of yards.
1 min: Less than 30 seconds on the clock, and Inter nearly concede a farcical goal. De Vrij underhits a backpass. Sommer gets to the ball ahead of the lurking Cano – just – though he slices his clearance hysterically. What a cock-up that could have been.
Inter get the match started. It’s warm at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. Hopefully not humid enough for any action-bothering electrical activity. Speaking of which, here’s Justin Kavanagh with a pre-match poser: “At next summer’s World Cup, let’s say that England, Italy, and Argentina are involved in a group of death and one of them are left to play Uzbekistan in their third match in Philadelphia (where right now there’s a violent thunderstorm). Meanwhile, the other two heavyweights, who have racked up a fair few goals each against the Uzbeks (the obligatory ‘no disrespect’ here, as I know nothing about their national team’s strengths or weaknesses) face off in the calmer climes of, say, Toronto. Now, as the heavens open in Philly and play is suspended for 90 minutes early in the game, won’t Fifa have to contemporaneously suspend the Toronto game? Otherwise, we are back to Argentina v Peru in 1978, and the team playing in Philly will know exactly how many goals will be necessary to qualify for the next round. I’m not being pesky, I’m just asking for a couple of billion interested friends, Mr Infantino.”
The players turn up for work. One by one. Dry ice, neon lights and a continuous stream of miserable, uninterested, self-conscious faces. That’s showbiz! We’ll be off in a minute or two.
The winner of this tie will play Manchester City or Al-Hilal in the quarter finals. That tie’s being played later tonight. Here’s Pep, basically in lockstep with his pals Jurgen and Thomas, but looking on the bright side regardless.
Inter make two changes to their starting XI after their 2-0 win over River Plate. Stefan de Vrij and Marcus Thuram come in for Francesco Acerbi and Francesco Pio Esposito.
Flu make two changes as well, after their goalless draw with Mamelodi Sundowns. Thiago Silva and Facundo Bernal take the places of Hércules and Agustín Canobbio.
The teams
Internazionale: Sommer, Bastoni, de Vrij, Darmian, Dumfries, Dimarco, Barella, Mkhitaryan, Asllani, Lautaro Martinez, Thuram.
Subs: Di Gennaro, Josep Martinez, Calligaris, Acerbi, Carlos Augusto, Palacios, Re Cecconi, Cocchi, Zalewski, Carboni, Sucic, Berenbruch, De Pieri, Luis Henrique, Sebastiano Esposito.
Fluminense: Fabio, Samuel Xavier, Rene, Freytes, Ignacio, Silva, Bernal, Martinelli, Cano, Arias, Vitor Eudes.
Subs: Manoel, Fuentes, Guga, Ganso, Soteldo, Santos, Lima, Hercules, Lezcano, Everaldo, Keno, Canobbio, Serna, Paulo Baya.
Preamble
Neither of these teams have wowed ‘em yet. In the groups, Inter drew with Monterrey then left it late against both Urawa Red Diamonds and River Plate, while Fluminense’s admittedly entertaining come-from-behind 4-2 victory over Ulsan HD was sandwiched by two goalless draws against Borussia Dortmund and Mamelodi Sundowns. But both know their way around knock-out football: Big Flu won the Copa Libertadores in 2023 while Inter reached the final of Big Cup in 2023 and 2025. So this could still be fun … providing the North Carolina weather doesn’t do a number on us again. Kick-off is at 8pm UK time, 3pm local, lightning permitting. It’s on! Hopefully!
