Seongnam reaches Club World Cup semifinal

By Yoon Chul

Seongnam Chunma cruised into the semifinal of the Club World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, where Korean teams have traditionally struggled, Sunday (KST).

The Asian club champions, Seongnam thrashed Abu Dhabi club Al Wahda 4-1, thanks to Columbian Mauricio Molina’s impressive display.

Molina scored one goal for the Korean club and set up two others.

The victory means Seongnam will compete against last season’s Champions League winner Inter Milan in the semifinal Thursday and have already secured $2 million in prize money.

Seongnam took only four minutes to shock the home crowd as Molina found an empty net at his mercy.

Al Wahda’s defender Hadan Al Kamalz panicked and made a mess of his clearance when goalkeeper Adel Al Hosani was coming to easily collect the ball. It went straight to Molina who hit a 20 yard volley with the keeper stranded for an early 1-0 lead.

In the 27th minute, Al Wahda fired up the stadium with a superb finish.

Eisa Ahmed’s low-fast cross found a leaping Fernando Baiano and his powerful header left Seongnam’s South Korean international goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong no chance.

Seongnam’s two foreign players responded quickly to restore the visitor’s lead.

Three minutes later Molina’s looping corner kick found captain Sasa Ognenovski and his header went past Hosani’s outstretched hand.

In the second half, the Korean club continued to look more likely to score and was rewarded again in the 71st with a well-worked goal

Cho Dong-geun collected the ball in front of the box and drew four defenders leaving Choi Sung-kuk in plenty of space.

Cho found Choi and his powerful strike flew into the top corner to make it 3-1.

The Korean side wrapped up the scoring in the 81st and Molina was involved again. His free kick picked out Cho perfectly and his header left Al Hosani helpless.

Seongnam now faces the best club in Europe last season.

“I’m sure we can give Inter a good run for their money. They’re probably as weak right now as they’ve been for a long, long time,” Seongnam captain Ognenovski said on the FIFA website.

Ognenovski also commented on Molina.

“He’s a key player for us,” said Ognenovski. “He’s been important for us all year, scoring goals and providing crosses like those ones you saw tonight. And as long as he can keep delivering them like that, I’ll keep knocking them in.”

Seongnam manager Shin Tae-yong also commented on the match against Inter Milan.

“Inter is one of the best clubs in the world. It will be a very tough match,” Shin said. Among the squad the most dangerous player is Samuel Eto’o,” added Shin.

“We will prepare for the next three days for the match. As we don’t have many chances to compete against the world’s best teams, I told my boys to just do their best,” Shin said.

“If we advance to the final over Inter, it will be a great honor not only for me but also the players.”

The match between Seongnam and Inter Milan is on Thursday at 2 a.m.

Meanwhile Inter Milan’s Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder commented that the match against Seongnam would be tough and his side should focus on the first game at the Club World Cup in an interview with Football Italy.