Borussia Dortmund started the Club World Cup on Tuesday with a draw. The Germans failed to pass the 44-year-old goalkeeper Fábio in their opening match against the Brazilian Fluminense: 0-0.
Fábio, at 44 years, 9 months and 17 days, is the oldest player at the Club World Cup. The Brazilian goalkeeper can even become the oldest player in the tournament ever if Fluminense reaches the final. That record is held by the Mexican Óscar Pérez, who was 44 years, 10 months and 10 days old when he was in goal for CF Pachuca in 2017.
While his opponents from Dortmund had just been born or not born at all, Fábio was already defending the goal of the Brazilian União Bandeirante in 1997. He has played for Fluminense since 2022.
With that team, Fábio kept a clean sheet in the first group match at the Club World Cup in East Rutherford, USA. That was not a problem in the first half, because Dortmund did not produce a single shot on goal. After the break, Dortmund became a bit more dangerous, but Fábio kept his goal clean.
Dortmund and Fluminense are in a group with the South African Mamelodi Sundowns and the South Korean Ulsan HD. Those two teams will be in action on Tuesday night into Wednesday (0.00 am Dutch time).
First it is the turn of River Plate and Urawa Red Diamonds. The match between the Argentinians and the Japanese starts at 9:00 PM. In the same group, Champions League finalist Internazionale will play against the Mexican Monterrey tonight.