Former Mamelodi Sundowns defender Ricardo Nascimento believes the South African champions have what it takes to stun Brazilian giants Fluminense in their crucial FIFA Club World Cup group clash on Wednesday evening.
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Speaking to Vaiprogol in Brazil, the centre-back, who spent over five years at Chloorkop, shared his admiration for how Sundowns have flown the flag for African football during the tournament.
“Now, with this chance to compete in the World Cup, it is another opportunity to show how South African football has been growing. I think Sundowns have been playing a great tournament, making African football well known. People are seeing that South Africa also has good players,” said Nascimento.
Sundowns, who made history by becoming the first South African team to win a match at the new-format FIFA Club World Cup, will face Fluminense in a high-stakes encounter that could determine who advances to the Round of 16.
Nascimento expects a fiercely contested battle.
“It’s a decisive game against Fluminense, a game in which one of the two will advance to the next round. I think it’s going to be a tough game,” he added.
“Fluminense played an excellent first game, the second not so much, but they achieved their objective. And Sundowns have nothing to lose, I even think it could be a very tough game for Fluminense because of that. Fluminense has to go into the match focused, like they did in the first game, because otherwise Mamelodi could end up surprising us in this World Cup.”
Sundowns will need a win on Wednesday and a favourable result in the other Group A encounter between Borussia Dortmund and Ulsan HD to advance.
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