By Mohamed Islam Bouteraa

SEATTLE, WA - Brazil's Botafogo survived a vicious second-half onslaught by the Seattle Sounders to secure a 2-1 victory in their opening FIFA Club World Cup encounter at a wild Lumen Field on Monday. 

Despite a valiant comeback attempt spearheaded by a passionate home crowd, the Copa Libertadores winners held on to their first-half advantage to record precious three points.

The match

Began with underdogs Sounders being surprisingly calm. However, the Brazilian giants, playing in their CWC debut, soon got into their groove. Seasoned Seattle keeper Stefan Frei was put to the test early on, with crucial saves keeping out Igor Jesus and Alex Telles inside the opening 15 minutes.
And as Botafogo gained the initiative in terms of possession and space, Seattle were driven further back. 

The opening came in a gift-wrapped 32nd minute. Nouhou Tolo clumsily fouled Artur on the byline, and from the resulting free kick, Alex Telles delivered a perfect cross. Teenager Jair Cunha stood tall, hammering home a close-range header for his first senior goal ever.

Stung by conceding

Seattle pressed on for an equalizer before the interval but this left them vulnerable. Minutes from the break, Vitinho got free on the wing and delivered a tempting cross. Igor Jesus, atoning for his saved attempt earlier, directed a pinpoint header past Frei to double Botafogo's advantage and seemingly take command of the game.

The Sounders began the second half ablaze. Pumped up by their fans and needing to attack, they pushed Botafogo back. Jackson Ragen came close to scoring early, but it was not to be. Although Seattle controlled the ball and the field, they found it hard to penetrate the rugged defense of Botafogo, and clean opportunities were quite hard to come by.

Their efforts were finally repaid in the 75th minute. A determined move saw the ball arrive at the feet of Cristián Roldán on the penalty spot. His header took a crucial deflection off the unfortunate Igor Jesus, defeating goalkeeper John and nestling in the net, setting up a grandstand finish.

The last 15 minutes, and added time, were all Seattle. They had everyone pushed up the field, including subs Pedro de la Vega and Osaze De Rosario, and just attacked the Botafogo goal. It got pretty crazy towards the end when the Sounders almost got that tying goal, but it just wasn't meant to be. 

When the whistle blew

it was a 2-1 Botafogo victory, and the Sounders couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at chances missed, especially since they played so well in the second half.

For Botafogo, these three points are extremely important, taking them higher up the tournament. But coach Artur Jorge has some serious worries about his team's failure to deal with the match in the second half of the game, especially with the tough games against Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético de Madrid coming up very soon.

The Sounders, though beaten, deserved huge credit for their courage shown in mounting a fierce come-back against their home crowd. They are out of the Club World Cup but showed the competitive heart of the CONCACAF champions against the best South America could muster.