Al Wahda 1 // Seongnam 4
Al Wahda Baiano 27'?
Seongnam Molina 04', ?Ognenovski 30', Choi Sung-kuk 71', Cho Dong-geon 81'
Man of the match Mauricio Molina (Seongnam)
ABU DHABI // Defensive naivety proved the downfall of Pro League champions Al Wahda last night as they missed the chance to meet European giants Inter Milan in the Club World Cup semi-finals.
Two first-half errors either side of a Fernando Baiano header gave the Asian champions Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma a half-time lead, before Wahda's defence fell asleep twice in the space of 10 minutes in the second period to add a hint of humiliation to the end result.
"I am very disappointed because my team were not able to play their best," said Josef Hickersberger, the Wahda coach. "We have to admit Seongnam were the better side and deserved to win, even by this margin. We made too many defensive errors."
Sepp Blatter, the Fifa president, was among the 30,625 who saw the game at the Zayed Sports City Stadium. Hickersberger fielded an unchanged team from the side that beat Hekari United 3-0 in the qualifying play-off on Wednesday.
Seongnam had qualified for the tournament by winning the Asian Champions League, while Hickerberger's side finished bottom during the same tournament's group stages.
Additionally, in the two previous all-Asian Club World Cup battles, teams from East Asia emerged victorious twice.
Yet Wahda did themselves few favours last night when, in only the fourth minute and after already experiencing two narrow escapes, a breakdown of communication in the backline saw them fall a goal behind.
Adel al Hosani, the goalkeeper, and Hamdan al Kamali, the centre-half, - at 21, the two youngest players in the Emirati side - failed to deal with a through ball. With al Hosani rushing out to collect, al Hamdan attempted to clear, but the ball landed at the feet of Mauricio Molina and with a free goal to aim at, the Colombian made no mistake with is finish.
It took Wahda 20 minutes before having any meaningful attempt at goal, but they were soon looking more threatening - courtesy mainly of Ismail Matar and Fernando Baiano combining well. Still, it came as a surprise when, in the 27th minute, the big Brazilian brilliantly headed home from a Eisa Ahmed cross.
The lead did not last long. Three minutes later al Hosani and al Kamali were again found wanting. The goalkeeper came to collect a Molina corner before changing his mind, and Sasa Ognenovski, Seongnam's Australian captain, comfortably outmuscled al Kamali to power a header past the stranded al Hosani.
"It doesn't help us or help them, but [al Hosani and Al Kamali] are young, so at least they now have international experience and for sure they will do better in the future," Hickersberger said.
In the 71st minute, woeful defending left Choi Sung-kuk entirely unmarked on the edge of the area, and with only the keeper to beat. He did so with aplomb.
Ten minutes later, Cho Dong-geon added a fourth, capitalising on poor marking from a Molina free kick to emphatically header Seongnam through to a last-four meeting with Rafa Benitez's Inter.
Wahda, meanwhile, have another match to play, against Pachuca of Mexico in the fifth-place match at 6pm on Wednesday.
Said Hickersberger: "The third goal killed the match and the morale of my players."
Shin Tae-yong, the Koreans' coach added: "Wahda did well, but as a team, they are a little weak."
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Zombieland: Double Tap
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Stars: Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone
Four out of five stars
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Starfield
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RESULTS
6.30pm Handicap (TB) US$65,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner Golden Goal, Pat Dobbs (jockey), Doug Watson (trainer)
7.05pm Dubai Racing Club Classic Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,410m
Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
7.40pm Dubai Stakes Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Switzerland, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
8.15pm Singspiel Stakes Group 3 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m
Winner Lord Giltters, Adrie de Vries, David O’Meara
8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner Military Law, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
9.25pm Al Fahidi Fort Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner Land Of Legends, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
10pm Dubai Dash Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,000m
Winner Equilateral, Frankie Dettori, Charles Hills.
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Jeff Buckley: From Hallelujah To The Last Goodbye
By Dave Lory with Jim Irvin
TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SERIES%209
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A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Omar Yabroudi's factfile
Born: October 20, 1989, Sharjah
Education: Bachelor of Science and Football, Liverpool John Moores University
2010: Accrington Stanley FC, internship
2010-2012: Crystal Palace, performance analyst with U-18 academy
2012-2015: Barnet FC, first-team performance analyst/head of recruitment
2015-2017: Nottingham Forest, head of recruitment
2018-present: Crystal Palace, player recruitment manager
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded