June 21, (THEWILL) – Inter Milan salvaged their FIFA Club World Cup campaign with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Urawa Red Diamonds in Seattle, maintaining Europe’s perfect record against Asian opposition at the tournament. The Italian giants fell behind early but struck twice in the final 12 minutes to eliminate the Japanese side from Group E competition.
Urawa stunned the Serie A champions with a clinical opening goal through Ryoma Watanabe, who converted after Takuro Kaneko’s penetrating run from the right flank. The strike marked the first Club World Cup goal scored by a Japanese side against European opposition at the third attempt, capitalising on Inter’s only defensive lapse despite the Italians dominating possession with nearly 90 per cent of the ball in the opening exchanges.
Inter’s overwhelming territorial advantage yielded few clear chances in the first half, with Lautaro Martinez striking the crossbar from Kristjan Asllani’s cross representing their closest opportunity. The Nerazzurri peppered the Urawa goal with speculative efforts from Nicola Zalewski and Nicolo Barella, but goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa remained largely untroubled by the Italian side’s wasteful finishing.
The second half followed a similar pattern until Martinez rescued Inter with a spectacular overhead kick from Barella’s corner, flicking the ball through a crowd of players with 12 minutes remaining. The Argentine striker’s acrobatic effort sparked wild celebrations among the Italian supporters and shifted momentum decisively in favour of the Italian team.
Valentin Carboni completed the comeback deep into stoppage time, guiding home the winner after a scramble in the penalty area. The dramatic turnaround lifts Inter to four points ahead of their crucial encounter with River Plate, while Maciej Skorza’s Urawa side join the growing list of Asian clubs eliminated without recording a victory at this year’s tournament.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
