SEATTLE: River Plate opened their Club World Cup campaign with a 3-1 win over Urawa Red Diamonds on Tuesday, with goals from Facundo Colidio, Sebastian Driussi and Maxi Meza enough to see off a spirited challenge from the Japanese side.

The Argentine team got off to a dominant start and opened the scoring after 12 minutes when Colidio headed home a fine cross from Marcos Acuna on the left.

Driussi doubled the lead three minutes into the second half, capitalising on a poor header back from Marius Hoibraten to head the ball over the advancing goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa and into an empty net.

Striker Driussi was forced off soon after, having picked up an injury in the build up, and Urawa pulled one back in the 58th minute through Yusuke Matsuo, who calmly converted a penalty following a foul by Acuna.

While Urawa pushed hard for an equaliser, substitute Meza delivered the decisive blow in the 73rd minute, with yet another header from Acuna’s corner, his second assist of the match.

River will face Mexico’s Monterrey on Saturday, while Urawa take on Champions League runners-up Inter Milan in Group E.

Flu draw with Dortmund

Fluminense sent a message that they would not be pushed around by their European rivals at the Club World Cup on Tuesday, as they held Borussia Dortmund to a 0-0 draw at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

European teams have won the last 11 editions of the tournament and many pundits expect them to run roughshod again over the newly expanded field at the Club World Cup.

But with legions of enthusiastic fans turning up to cheer them on, South American teams – including 2023 runners-up Fluminense – believe they can put up a fight and begin a new chapter of intercontinental rivalry.

Renato Gaucho, Fluminense head coach said: “I would like to send a warm hug to our supporters – I am sure that our fans here and in Brazil are very proud of our first match here in this tournament. We were superior to our opponent most of the time – almost all of the time.

“There are many teams that are financially better off than we are but on the pitch it’s 11 against 11 and it’s up to the attitude of our players and I’m so proud of them.”

Niko Kovac, Dortmund’s head coach, said: “As a former player and also as a coach I’m not surprised because I know Brazilian football very well and I knew that they have a lot of quality, a lot of experienced players.

“It is always also a battle – European football and South American football… for me, this was not a surprise and I’m convinced that most of these South American teams will pass into the next round.”

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