The house of Orange and Blue was full of yellow Saturday as fans of Borussia Dortmund and Mamelodi Sundowns FC wore their team colors to cheer on their respective sides in the FIFA Club World Cup at TQL Stadium.
Unlike a week prior, when fans of Bayern Munich filled the stadium with red and white, outnumbering the meager number of fans from New Zealand, the team from Pretoria, South Africa drew a more substantial fan base.
Hazel Molal, originally from Botswana, traveled from where she lives in New York to see the Sundowns.
"I'm here to support my Mamelodi Sundowns, a team that I've been supporting for the past 28 years. I'm coming to see them live for the first time ever," she told WVXU. "I'm very happy; I'm excited. I can't wait to get our win."
"It's really inspiring coming to this game after our previous performance," Molal added. The Sundowns topped Ulsan HD FC of Korea in their opening match 1-nil.
Clad in black and yellow, Alexi Salazar of Los Angles came to see Borussia Dortmund play in-person for the first time.
"They're the first team I watched growing up, so [I formed] an attachment to them," he said, noting flights to Cincinnati were cheaper than to Germany, so he and a group of friends decided to come to the match.
Salazar said he particularly likes all the things the team does for fans, such as converting local Cincinnati bar, The Pitch, into a fan club dubbed the BVB Embassy.
The Sundowns had the first opportunity, cutting back a ball in the six yard box, then rebounding the goalkeeper's save and nearly capitalizing on a poor clear attempt from Dortmund. However, the whistle blew for a handball on the offense.
The first goal came in the 11th minute when the Brazilian striker, Lucas Ribiero, went straight down Route 1 into a one-on-one with Dortmund goalkeeper, Gregor Kobel. Ribiero placed the ball past Kobel and into the back of the net.
Borussia Dortmund leveled the match minutes later in the 16th minute when the Sundowns goalkeeper botched a simple play out of the back, mistakenly kicking a soft pass to the other team. Dortmund's Felix Nmecha made him pay, tucking the ball safely into the goal from inside the 18 yard box.
The Yellow and Black struck again in the 34th minute off a head ball from Serhou Guirassy. A third goal followed in the closing minutes of the fist half when Jude Bellingham rebounded a save from goalkeeper Ronwen Williams directly in front of goal and buried it home. Williams blocked another attempt moments later to keep the score at 3-1 heading into the locker room at halftime.
The second half opened with a Sundowns own-goal in the 59th. Dortmund's Daniel Svensson played a ball across goal that was accidentally tipped in by the Sundowns Khuliso Mudau.
The Sundowns pulled one back in the 62nd minute on a set piece. Iqraam Rayners rebounded his own head ball off of the goal post, sending a second head ball into the goal to bring the score to 4-2.
The fans from South Africa weren't deterred by the scoreline nor the heat. A section posted near the team bench stood, sang and danced throughout the 90-minute match.
They were rewarded with a final Sundowns goal in the 90th minute off a shot from Lebo Mothiba.
The score at the final whistle was 4-3 in favor of Borussia Dortmund.
The posted attendance for Saturday's match was 14,006.
The final Club World Cup match in Cincinnati is Wednesday. Borussia Dortmund returns to face Ulsan HD FC of Korea. Kick-off is at 3 p.m.
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