Club World Cup: South America once again celebrated a goal in the final, after what Guerrero did in 2012

The 2021 Club World Cup trophy was in the hands of Chelsea, who imposed conditions on Palmeiras in extra time (2-1), after equalizing in the 90 minutes of regulation. In this way, the hegemony of the European teams in the continental competition is maintained, although ‘Verdão’ at least managed to break a negative streak for South America.

About 62 minutes into the match, Chris Beath determined a penalty for the Brazilian team, after a hand from Thiago Silva, which was seen by the VAR. Free-kick taker Raphael Veiga did not miss: he scored with a powerful shot to the right post, while Edouard Mendy had dived the other way.

The aforementioned goal not only meant the partial 1-1, which forced extra time, but also ended the 10-year drought in which a Copa Libertadores champion team could not score in the definition of the Club World Cup title .

The last time a South American institution had inflated the nets in a final was in 2012: Paolo Guerrero put Corinthians 1-0 over Chelsea. Curiously, the representative of the Champions League was also the English side, although that time they ended up defeated: the Peruvian’s score secured the trophy for ‘Timão’.

After that season, and before what Palmeiras did this Saturday, the winners of the Libertadores participated in four definitions for the title: San Lorenzo lost to Real Madrid (2-0, in 2014), River Plate fell to Barcelona ( 3-0, in 2015), Gremio was defeated by Real Madrid (1-0, in 2017) and Flamengo stumbled in extra time with Liverpool (1-0, in 2019).

Despite the defeat of ‘Verdão’, Raphael Veiga’s goal will remain recorded in the historical pages of the Club World Cup. For now, South America will have to wait for a title like Paolo Guerrero’s Corinthians to be repeated.