Spot on Al-Sadd claim third place
Qatari club Al-Sadd claimed third place in the FIFA Club World Cup with a
penalty shoot-out victory over Kashiwa Reysol of Japan in Yokohama.
Al-Sadd goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr became the hero with a penalty save from Ryohei
Hayashi, after it had been the keeper's error which allowed Adriano to set
Barcelona on the way to a 4-0 win in the semi-final.
Mohamed had also been key in keeping J.League champions Kashiwa at bay
throughout the 90 minutes as Asian Champions League winners Al-Sadd ended their
year on a high.
A lifeless first quarter of the match gave way to a frantic spell of action,
with Junya Tanaka cutting in from the right for Kashiwa and his low left-foot
shot clipped the outside of the post with Mohamed beaten.
Tanaka had an even better chance seconds later as Naoya Kondo's cross found him
unmarked close to goal, but Mohamed was able to parry his shot wide. From the
resulting corner, taken by Jorge Wagner, Hideaki Kitajima headed wide.
Kader Keita tested Kashiwa goalkeeper Takanori Seguno 10 minutes from the break
while at the other end Mohamed again had to be smart to keep out Kitajima's
effort.
The second half got off to a similarly slow start as the first and after Koki
Mizuno dragged a shot wide after an hour's play, Mohamed came out bravely to
block Kitajima's shot after the veteran forward chested the ball down and tried
to apply the finish from six yards.
Ibrahim Abdulmajed almost broke the deadlock in the 74th minute, but his
dipping, swerving shot was pushed over the top by Sugeno and it took a superb
defensive block from Kondo to deflect a Mamadou Niang shot on to the roof of the
net.
Hayashi had the last effort of the match in the first minute of injury time but
again Mohamed was equal to it, and Hayashi was denied again by the goalkeeper in
the shoot-out with Nadir Belhadj scoring the decisive spot-kick for Al-Sadd, who
converted all five of their penalties.