Barcelona win 3rd Club World Cup – Douglas double fires Hiroshima to bronze

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YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 20, (AFP): Lionel Messi marked his return from illness with a brilliant goal as Barcelona beat Argentina’s River Plate 3-0 to capture a record third Club World Cup on Sunday.

The Spanish giants welcomed back Messi after a bout of kidney stones and the mercurial Argentine scored with a clinical finish on 36 minutes, before a lethal Luis Suarez double destroyed River’s hopes.

“We came here to win the title and it was important to get the job done,” said Suarez, who picked up the player of the tournament and golden boot award after finishing with five goals.

“We stayed calm and played our game until Leo scored the first goal. More than my goals, it was just important to get our hands on the trophy.”

Neymar, himself returning to the side after a groin strain, was instrumental in Barcelona’s opener, climbing to knock down a Dani Alves cross for Messi to steer past River goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero with a deft flick of his left boot.

Suarez, who scored a hat-trick in Barca’s 3-0 semi-final win over Guangzhou Evergrande, scored a second with a fierce low drive four minutes into the second half.

The former Liverpool striker grabbed his second of the night when he dispatched a thumping header past Barovero after a pinpoint cross from Neymar.

River Plate’s starting eleven cost a total of some six million dollars, while Barcelona paid $85 million for Suarez alone, and the gulf in class showed.

The Catalans, who had already collected the Champions League, Spain’s La Liga, the Copa del Rey and European Super Cup this year, tore River to shreds in the second half. Neymar also came close to scoring with a curling effort that shaved the bar.

Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo was a spectator for much of the game on a cold night but made an acrobatic save from River substitute Gonzalo Martinez seven minutes from time to deny the South Americans a consolation goal.

Messi, who forced a smart save from Barovero in the early skirmishes and could himself have finished with a hat-trick, became the first player to score in three finals after leading Barca to victory in 2009 and 2011.

“Messi and Neymar wanted to play in the final, no matter what,” said Suarez. “It shows the sacrifice that there is in the group that they did everything to play.”

Earlier, 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 on Sunday.

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.

“It was very important to finish third,” said Hiroshima’s supersub. “We didn’t want the game to go to penalties because it would have given them another chance to win it. We should have beaten River Plate in our last game but this makes up for it a little.”

Hiroshima coach Hajime Moriyasu, whose side were narrowly beaten 1-0 in their midweek semi-final, praised his players for their staying power after a punishing month.

“We have played six matches in the past few weeks but when the going got tough this team is very resilient,” said 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 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.

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