Fluminense are the “ugly duckling” of the Club World Cup. That’s the words of their own manager, Renato Gaucho. Yet here they are, potentially 90 minutes away from a shot at becoming, by definition, world champions.
Akin to their entire campaign, they enter their semi-final clash with Chelsea as heavy underdogs. Fluminense might have already dispatched Champions League runners up Inter Milan, but the prevailing perception that lightning can’t strike twice has many quickly writing them off. It’s this European superiority complex that could prove the demise of the Blues, because Fluminense have beaten far tougher odds to get to this stage.
