Ronaldo to rescue as Real survives Club World scare
Print Edition
REAL Madrid suffered an almighty fright before a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick hauled it back from 1-2 down for a 4-2 win over rank outsider Kashima Antlers in the Club World Cup final yesterday.
Two goals from Gaku Shibasaki stunned the European champion as the Japanese hosts took a 2-1 lead early in the second half before a Ronaldo penalty brought Real level on the hour.
The 11-time European champion then survived several more scares and a possible sending-off for captain Sergio Ramos before Ronaldo scored twice more in the first period of extra-time.
Real, which won the tournament for the second time in three years and was crowed champion for a fifth time overall, appeared set for an easy victory when Karim Benzema gave it a ninth-minute lead but Shibasaki changed the story by leveling one minute before halftime.
Kashima was the first Asian team to reach the final although it qualified for the tournament as champion of host nation Japan. Asian champion Jeonbuk Motors had lost in the quarter-finals.
Real went ahead when Luka Modric’s volley was parried by Hitoshi Sogahata and Benzema tapped in the rebound.
Kashima refused to be overawed, continued playing its neat football and snatched a shock equalizer just before the break.
Shoma Doi’s cross found Shibasaki, whose first touch was poor but he was gifted a second attempt when Raphael Varane failed to clear and he smashed the ball into the net.
Shibasaki struck again six minutes after the break when he collected a poor Real clearance, got away from three opponents and fired a low shot past Keylor Navas from 25 meters.
Real was facing its first defeat since it lost to VfL Wolfsburg in April, a run of 36 competitive games, until Lucas Vazquez was bundled over by Shuto Yamamoto and Ronaldo converted the resulting penalty on the hour. Ronaldo ended Kashima’s dream when he collected Benzema’s sliderule pass and fired past Sogahata eight minutes into extra-time, then settled the match six minutes later with an emphatic finish into the roof of the net.
Atletico Nacional finished third earlier, beating Mexican side Club America 4-3 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
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