Eintracht Frankfurt Victorious in St. Petersburg
Thursday night, Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla., hosted one of the two kickoff matches for the fifth annual Florida Cup as German Bundesliga contender and DFB Pokal holder Eintracht Frankfurt faced Brazil’s most historically successful club São Paulo FC. As the full time whistle blew, Frankfurt took the points following a 2-1 victory behind a first-half Ante Rebic penalty kick conversion and a second half own-goal created by Luka Jovic. São Paulo scored via a Nene strike in the second half.
Also, on Thursday night, AFC Ajax drew, 2-2, with Flamengo at Orlando City Stadium in Orlando, with Flamengo ultimately securing the victory in penalty kicks. The result puts Frankfurt in the driver’s seat to win the 2019 Florida Cup, as the Bundesliga side took all three points, giving up only one goal.
The action resumes on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, with a special doubleheader at Orlando City Stadium. São Paulo will face Amsterdam’s AFC Ajax at 1 p.m. ET, followed by Eintracht Frankfurt against Flamengo at 4 p.m. ET.
MATCH FACTS:
São Paulo (Brazil) vs. Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
Al Lang Stadium, St. Petersburg, Fla.
7:10 p.m.
São Paulo - coach: Andre Jardine
STARTING XI | Tiago Volpi (23), Bruno Peres (20), Robert Arboleda (5), A. Martins (4), Reinaldo (6), Jucilei (8), Hudson (25), Hernanes (15), Helinho (11), Pablo (12), Everton (22)
SUBS: Jean (1), Lucas Perri (40), Junior (41), Igor Volpi (2), Bruno Alves (3), Lucas Kal (32), Rodrigo (34), Leo (16), Edimar (36), Lucas Farias (17), Felipe Araruna (28), Liziero (14), Nene (10), E. Felipe (18), Biro Biro (21), Brenner (30), S. Trellez (7), Diego Souza (9), Gonzalo (19).
Eintracht Frankfurt - coach: Adi Hutter
STARTING XI | Kevin Trapp (31), Evan Ndicka (2), Ante Rebic (4), Gelson Fernandes (5), Jonathan De Guzman (6), Filip Kostic (10), Jetro Willems (15), David Abraham (19), Makoto Hasebe (20), Da Costa (24), Hrgota (34)
SUBS: Rönnow; Falette, Marco Fabian, Jovic, Seb Haller, Carlos Salcedo, Sebastian Rode, Stendera, Russ, Tawatha, Knothe
SCORING SUMMARY
9th Minute – REBIC – Eintracht Frankfurt’s Jetro Willems latched onto a bad São Paulo back pass and was immediately taken down by Bruno Peres inside the 18-yard box. Frankfurt’s Ante Rebic stepped up and sent São Paulo goalkeeper Tiago Volpi to the left before blasting his shot to the right and into the back of the net.
55th Minute – NENE – São Paulo’s Nene finished off a clinical 3-v-2 breakaway counter attack. Nene was fed a sliding low ball to the penalty spot, where he coolly finished the equalizer.
64th Minute – OWN GOAL – Frankfurt second-half substitution Luka Jovic broke away on a 1-v-1 before being flushed out to the endline, finding himself alone with São Paulo goalkeeper Igor Gomes at an impossible angle. Jovic gambled and shot hard into Gomes, whose save attempt fluttered into the back of the net for the game-winner.
