With two goals from Arrascaeta, Flamengo defeats Cruz Azul and wins the Derby of the Americas.

The colossal Clube de Regatas do Flamengo continues to pile up trophies in the magnificent 2025 season! In the debut of the Intercontinental Cup, Mengão beat Cruz Azul 2-1 this Wednesday (10), at the Ahmad bin Ali stadium, in Doha, and won the Derby of the Americas trophy. Arrascaeta, the number 10 of Gávea, scored both goals for Rubro-Negro, who will now face Pyramids, from Egypt, in the semi-final of the tournament. 

If Flamengo beats the Egyptian team, they will win another trophy: the Challenger Cup. The winner will then qualify to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Intercontinental Cup final. 

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The game

The match began with Flamengo taking the initiative to attack with short passes. When they lost possession, the red-and-black team pushed up the field and pressured Cruz Azul, who struggled to advance. This high-pressure marking paid off early, in the 14th minute, when Flamengo opened the scoring. Cruz Azul's defense made a mistake playing out from the back, giving the ball to Arrascaeta, who was unmarked in the box, dribbled past the goalkeeper, and found the back of the net for the Brazilians: 1-0. 

After the goal, Cruz Azul began to put more pressure on Flamengo's build-up play and posed a threat to the Rubro-Negro defense. At one point in the game, the Mexican team dominated possession and exchanged passes in midfield. In the final minutes, Cruz Azul equalized with Sánchez, who scored a beautiful shot from the edge of the area, sending it into the right corner of Rossi's goal: 1-1. Two minutes earlier, the Mexicans had already put the ball in the net through Gabriel Fernández, but the referee ruled Rotondi offside at the start of the play. Therefore, the teams went into halftime with the score tied. 

For the second half, Flamengo returned with Plata replacing Samuel Lino. The first good breakaway for the red-and-black team happened just three minutes in. Arrascaeta passed to Bruno Henrique, who burst into the area at speed and shot, but Gudiño made the save. Regaining possession, Flamengo exchanged passes near the Cruz Azul area, looking for space to make penetrating plays. 

At 24 minutes, Plata received the ball at the edge of the area, cut past his marker and unleashed a powerful shot. The ball dipped and went very close to the crossbar. But in the next play, Flamengo were relentless and scored their second! Cebolinha, who had just come on, delivered a great pass to Arrascaeta, who attempted a low cross into the area. Piovi partially cleared the ball, giving it to the Uruguayan, who delicately touched it into the goal. The defense tried to clear, but the ball had already crossed the line: 2-1. 

Looking to give the team a boost, coach Filipe Luís made two more substitutions. Luiz Araújo and De La Cruz came on for Arrascaeta and Jorginho, respectively. In the 38th minute, Cebolinha delivered a great pass to Luiz Araújo, who advanced at speed, dribbled past the defenders and shot towards goal. Gudiño made the save. In the next play, the number 7 took a corner kick into the area and Léo Ortiz headed firmly. Sánchez cleared it off the line. 

In the final minutes, the game became very heated, and the referee was forced to hand out several yellow cards. Despite pressure from Cruz Azul in stoppage time, Flamengo held on to the result and left the field with the victory. With this result, Flamengo won the Derby of the Americas title, lifting yet another trophy in their impeccable 2025 season.

Week's agenda

Flamengo returns to the field next Saturday (13) to face Pyramids, from Egypt, at 14 pm (Brasília time), at the stadium Ahmad bin Ali, for the Intercontinental Cup semi-final. 

Flamengo

Rossi; Varela, Léo Ortiz, Léo Pereira and Alex Sandro; Erick Pulgar (Saúl), Jorginho (De La Cruz) and Arrascaeta (Luiz Araújo); Carrascal (Everton Cebolinha), Samuel Lino (Plata) and Bruno Henrique. 
Coach: Filipe Luís. 

Cruz Azul

Gudiño; Jorge Sánchez (Bogusz), Ditta and Piovi; Érik Lira, Jeremy Márquez (Faravelli), Carlos Rodríguez, Rivero (Omar Campos), Paradela (Luka Romero) and Rotondi (Sepúlveda); Gabriel Fernandez.
Coach: Nicolás Larcamón.   

Technical sheet

Cruz Azul 1-2 Flamengo – Intercontinental Cup 2025 | Quarter-finals
Location: Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Qatar
Date and time: 10/12/2025 at 14:XNUMX pm (Brasília time)
Arbitration: Glenn Nyberg (SUE), Mahbod Beigi (SUE) and Andreas Söderkvis (SUE)
Yellow cards: Ditta (CAZ), Jorginho (FLA), Alex Sandro (FLA), Everton Cebolinha (FLA), De La Cruz (FLA) and Piovi (CAZ)
Goals: Arrascaeta (14'1st half and 26'2nd half) and Sánchez (43'1st half).