PERFORMANCES: Gabigol and Pedro avoid the embarrassment of Flamengo at the World Cup; see notes

Flamengo beat Al Ahly 4-2 to secure third place in the Club World Cup. Despite defensive mistakes, Rubro-Negro was accurate up front and avoided embarrassment. Look at the notes! (From: William Xavier)

SANTOS – 6.0 – Game of ups and downs. Lui struggled to get out of goal on Al Ahly’s first goal, but took a penalty and saved it late.

VARELA – 5.5 – Reasonable. He conceded the penalty that led to Flamengo’s first goal and created good plays on the right.

FABRÍCIO BRUNO – 4.5 – He did not resist Al Ahly’s attack at any time.

DAVID LUIZ – 4.5 – What a bad match for the defensive duo. The ease with which Al Ahly arrived was impressive.

AYRTON LUCAS – 6.0 – He saves himself, in the middle of another bad game by the Flamengo defence. He is replacing Filipe Luís well.

THIAGO MAIA – 4.0 – The worst of Flamengo. Loss, missing passes and difficulty containing the defense.

VIDAL – 5.5 – Character. Alternate moments of lucidity and caricatures. I took the opportunity.

EVERTON RIBEIRO – 5.0 – Weak start. He failed to give pace to the Flamengo midfield.

ARRASCAETA – 6.0 – Participates a lot, justifies VP’s choice to keep him in this second half.

GABI – 7.5 – Decisive. Fundamental to avoid the embarrassment of Flamengo in Morocco. Great start to the season.

PEDRO – 7.5 – Another who made the difference. He participated and scored twice. Club World Cup top scorer.

CEBOLINHA – 4.5 – Bad start, bad restart.

PABLO – NO NOTES

MATHEUS FRANÇA – WITHOUT NOTE

PULL – WITHOUT NOTE

VÍTOR PEREIRA – 5.0 – There will be work to do for his return to Brazil. The team remains disorganized, especially in defense. It totally depends on the individual talent.

AL AHLY – He was able to exploit the spaces offered by the Flamengo defence, but he had too many defensive problems. In the end the expulsion made the difference for the defeat.