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Paulinho rescues Guangzhou
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FORMER Spurs midfielder Paulinho snatched an injury-time winner as China’s Guangzhou Evergrande stunned Mexico’s Club America 2-1 yesterday to set up a Club World Cup semifinal against Barcelona in Japan.
Japanese champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima upset Congolese side Mazembe 3-0 in the second quarterfinal in Osaka, sending the local favorite through to face Argentina’s Libertadores Cup holder River Plate.
Paulinho climbed to head in a corner with virtually the last touch of the game, completing an improbable comeback for the Asian champion and leaving dazed America players sobbing on the turf at the final whistle.
“I play the game for moments like that,” Paulinho said. “You never know what will happen in football so it’s better not to talk too much before the match.”
Veteran striker Oribe Peralta had ended Guangzhou’s resistance with a diving header five minutes after the break, only for substitute Zheng Long to equalize against the run of play for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side 10 minutes from time. Paulinho, the architect for Zheng’s classic sucker punch, then sent Chinese fans wild as he put Evergrande through to a dream tie with European champion Barcelona in Yokohama on Thursday.
“We were magnificent!” gushed Scolari. “Why not dream now of beating Barcelona? We know we are small but we want to achieve great things. That’s what we will work for and I need my players to be aware that it is possible.”
The former Brazil and Portugal coach was indebted to his goalkeeper Li Shuai, who manfully kept America at bay until Peralta struck.
Mazembe, surprise finalist five years ago, used to employ witch-doctors while wizards behind the goals would break eggs to boost the team’s attacking potency, the FIFA website says.
However, luck deserted the African champion, which dominated for long against Hiroshima but lacked a killer touch.
Defender Tsukasa Shiotani poked home a Yusuke Chajima corner to give Hiroshima the lead just before halftime.
Center-back Kazuhiko Chiba headed a second 11 minutes after the break to put the newly crowned J-League champion in control before substitute Takuma Asano added a third.
Hiroshima faces River Plate in Osaka on Wednesday.
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