YOKOHAMA, Dec 20 — Brazilian substitute Douglas scored a late double as Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima stunned Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande 2-1 to finish third at the Club World Cup today.
Former Spurs midfielder Paulinho headed the Chinese in front after just four minutes in Yokohama, celebrating by racing to the bench to hold up the shirt of teammate Zou Zheng, who broke his leg in the 3-0 semi-final defeat by Barcelona.
But Douglas stooped to nod home a deserved equaliser for the Japanese champions in the 70th minute after some poor defending. He then headed in the winner seven minutes from time to complete a dramatic turnaround.
“We have played six matches in the past two weeks but when the going got tough this team is very resilient,” said Hiroshima manager Hajime Moriyasu, whose side captured a third J-League crown earlier this month.
“To go toe-to-toe with the Asian champions and win will be a big confidence boost for us as we continue to build for the future.”
Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Evergrande had been overwhelming favourites to become the first Asian representatives to win the bronze medal but they wilted badly after a strong start.
“Physically and technically Hiroshima deserved to win,” said former Brazil coach Scolari. “We looked a tired team. Our thoughts go to poor Zou, who had surgery in Japan on his leg and we hope to have him back with us as soon as possible.”
Sanfrecce became the third Japanese team to win the third-place playoff after Urawa Reds in 2007 and Gamba Osaka in 2008.
Pint-sized striker Hisato Sato was Hiroshima’s most potent attacker in the first half but Evergrande’s towering goalkeeper Li Shuai brilliantly thwarted the J-League’s joint record goal scorer on three occasions.
Evergrande defender Zhang Linpeng saw a shot deflected on to the post, while Mei Feng cleared superbly off the line from Takuya Marutani at the other end in a see-saw game which really caught fire when Douglas came off the bench.
European champions Barcelona were playing South America’s Libertadores Cup holders River Plate in the final later today. — AFP
