Corinthians made it to the final to be held in Yokohama on Sunday (Photo by Shin-ichiro KANEKO)

After the host side came from behind to beat the Asian champions, Corinthians defeated Al-Ahly to reach the final in front of raucous supporters.

ULSAN HYUNDAI (KOR) 2-3 SANFRECCHE HIROSHIMA (JPN) [Dec 12]
AL-AHLY SC (EGY) 0-1 CORINTHIANS (BRA) [Dec 12]

Hiroshima defender Hiroki Mizumoto gave Ulsan the lead in the 17th minute by beating his own goalkeeper with a back pass under pressure from Rafinha. Ten minutes from half-time, however, the host side were level as onrushing Satoru Yamagishi responded quickest after Kim Youngkwang blocked unmarked Hisato Sato’s point-blank header from Koji Morisaki’s free-kick. Early in the second half, Sato scored to put Hiroshima ahead from Yamagishi’s cross. Then, Sato made the score 3-1 by registering his third goal of the tournament before Lee Young pulled a goal back for the Asian champions deep in extra time.

Thousands of Corinthians supporters were at the stadium (Photo by Masashi ADACHI)

Corinthians imposed their tempo from the beginning and duly opened the scoring after half an hour. Al-Ahly failed to clear a corner from Douglas, who let in another cross with the outside of his left foot, and Paolo Guerrero superbly directed the ball just inside the far post with a powerful header while taking a step backward. After half time, the African champions pushed forward for an equalizer, and influential striker Mohamed Aboutrika was introduced. The “Egyptian Zidane” created chances for Ahmed Fathi and Elsayed Hamdi in the middle of the second half and then had a shot himself, but the solid defence of the South American champions held strong right up to the final whistle.

Don’t miss the “cheering match” between supporters of the two teams in a game. TOYOTA, the official sponsor of the tournament, has launched a web page where supporters from all over the world can cheer either of the competing teams.

PC: http://www.facebook.com/toyota.heat.heart.football/app_458153827554291
Smartphone: http://fbapps.toyota-social-stadium.com/

You can post a comment for the team you root for as well as watch supporters cheering their teams in the stadium. The cheering match on the web shouldn’t be missed along with the match itself!