Palmeiras star Raphael Veiga focused on Fifa Club World Cup crown after Al Ahly heroics

Palmeiras midfielder Raphael Veiga has set his sights on “nothing less” than winning the Fifa Club World Cup after his man-of-the-match display helped secure a place in the final in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Veiga opened the scoring in Tuesday night’s semi-final against African champions Al Ahly at Al Nahyan Stadium, before he assisted teammate Duda in the second half as Palmeiras ran out 2-0 winners.

The victory sent the 2021 Copa Libertadores winners through to the showpiece in the capital this weekend, where they will face either Chelsea or Al Hilal. Those two sides meet on Wednesday night, in the other semi-final at the Mohamed bin Zayed Stadium.

Speaking to Fifa.com back at his team hotel late on Tuesday, Veiga said: “It’s a unique moment in my career. To score a goal in a competition as important as the Club World Cup, it’s indescribable. It’s one of the best moments of my life.

“I don’t have the words to properly describe it, but I’m really, really happy. This will go down in my career for ever. I’m delighted with the goal, the victory, how the team played. I’m really emotional.

“It’s a big party right now. Everyone’s enjoying it to the maximum. In the dressing room, on the bus… it’s pure euphoria. We know what a big responsibility we have here, we know how much it means to the club, the fans.

"We’re very pleased with the victory and the way we got it. Tonight we’re going to enjoy this as much as possible and tomorrow we’ll be back to work.”

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