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River Plate ready for Hiroshima
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BEFORE a possible match against Barcelona in the Club World Cup final, River Plate must get past the locals.
The Copa Libertadores champion will take on Sanfrecce Hiroshima in the semifinals today, a team that has already won two games in the competition without conceding a goal.
“They are the best team in Japan,” River Plate coach Marcelo Gallardo said in Osaka yesterday. “They are very good at controlling the ball, they play at a high quality and are extremely resilient.”
Sanfrecce, bidding to become the first Asian team to reach the final, beat Oceania representative Auckland City 2-0 last Thursday before a 3-0 victory over African champion TP Mazembe on Sunday.
River Plate, which won the tournament in 1986 when it was known the Intercontinental Cup, was in Japan in August when it beat Gamba Osaka 3-0 in a match between the reigning champion of the J-League Cup and the Copa Sudamericana.
“I have seen incredible growth and development in Japanese soccer,” Gallardo said. “When we played here in August the opposition was speedy and technically skilled. I expect Hiroshima to be the same.”
Today’s winner will face either Barcelona or Chinese champion Guangzhou Evergrande in the final on December 20.
“Over the last year we have won a lot of titles,” Gallardo said. “Being in the Club World Cup is the icing on the cake.”
Although Sanfrecce will have the home advantage today, a large contingent of River Plate fans made the journey to show their support.
“It shows we have passionate supporters and we will feed off that,” Gallardo said. “We’re representing Argentina.”
The tournament, which features the top clubs from FIFA’s six continental confederations plus the champion of the host country, returns to Japan for the first time since 2012.
It was hosted in Morocco the previous two years.
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