Japanese Club, Sanfrecce Hiroshima have won the third place in the FIFA World Cup tournament in Japan, edging out Luiz Felipe Scolaris coached Guangzhou Evergrande, 2-1.
The Japanese club were trailing the Chinese giants, 0-1 until the 70th minute, when Douglas snatched the equaliser.
He followed up with another goal in the 83rd minutes to change the game.
It was the AFC champions who took the lead with the game’s first chance. Li Xuepeng’s cross from the right was headed towards goal by Elkeson, with Takuyo Hayashi parrying the shot away. The ball went straight into the path of Lin Gao whose shot fell to Paulinho. The former Tottenham Hotspur man was left with the simplest of chances to head home.
With the game drifting to its conclusion, a lapse in concentration cost Guangzhou dearly. Mizumoto missed Yusuke Chajima’s corner from the left at the near post which allowed Douglas to sneak in unnoticed and equalise.
After the goal, it was all Sanfrecce. Chajima went agonisingly close to giving the J.League champions the lead after some great work by Yoshifumi Kashiwa. He showed superb balance to keep the ball in play and put a delivery into the box. It was met by Chajima who hit a cross-come-shot into the turf which spun just beyond the upright.
With eight minutes to go, Sanfrecce got the match-winner. Kashiwa’s cross from the right was headed against the bar by Asano and Douglas was on hand to nod home the rebound from close range.
The final match will be played between Barcelona FC and Argentine football Club, River Plate.