Pasadena, June 20 (IANS) Botafogo pulled off the biggest upset of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 so far and took a huge step towards the last 16 by beating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the Rose Bowl.
The CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores holders now sit top of Group B, three points clear of both PSG and Atletico de Madrid, after a solitary Igor Jesus goal stunned their UEFA Champions League counterparts.
The French champions PSG now head to Seattle to take on the Sounders with qualification at stake, while Botafogo will only need to take a point against Atletico in LA to be sure of reaching the Round of 16.
PSG came into this match on a red-hot six-game winning streak, with FC Internazionale Milano and Atletico de Madrid dispatched by an aggregate score of 9-0 in their two most recent fixtures.
The seemingly unstoppable European champions found Botafogo a tough nut to crack from the start, however, and their failure to capitalise on a dominance of possession was punished nine minutes before half-time, FIFA reports.
Snatching possession, Botafogo launched a lightning counter-attack, with the in-form Igor Jesus showing pace and power to race through on to a Jefferson Savarino pass, hold off two PSG defenders and fire goalwards. The ball took a wicked deflection on its way past the wrong-footed Gianluigi Donnarumma but the Brazilians had earned their good fortune, and the goal – the Botafogo talisman’s fifth in his last seven appearances – was celebrated in justifiably joyous fashion.
Even more surprising, perhaps, is that the expected PSG onslaught never truly materialised. At no stage did Luis Enrique’s side’s territorial advantage translate to a series of clear-cut chances, and the few efforts they did have were repelled comfortably by John in the Botafogo goal.
“We killed PSG with the same poison. That is by being a great team, playing together with all the guys defending and all attacking. That’s the big secret of PSG, why they compete and win. This PSG side is a lesson to everybody in football and I told my guys to just be a team, enjoy, play together, attack together, defend together. [We showed] the quality of Brazilian players and coaches, and this is a victory of all the coaches that are working in Brazil, working with great players,” Renato Paiva, Botafogo head coach
–IANS
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