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Barca captures 3rd Club World Cup
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LIONEL Messi marked his return from illness with a brilliant goal as Barcelona beat Argentina’s River Plate 3-0 to capture a record third Club World Cup last night.
The Spanish giant welcomed back Messi after a bout of kidney stones and the Argentine scored with a clinical finish on 36 minutes, before a lethal Luis Suarez double destroyed River’s hopes.
“We came here to win the title and it was important to get the job done,” said Suarez, who picked up the player of the tournament and golden boot award after finishing with five goals.
Neymar, himself returning to the side after a groin strain, was instrumental in Barcelona’s opener, climbing to knock down a Dani Alves cross for Messi to steer past River goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero with a deft flick of his left boot.
Suarez, who scored a hat-trick in the 3-0 semifinal win over Guangzhou Evergrande, scored a second with a fierce low drive four minutes into the second half.
The former Liverpool striker grabbed his second of the night when he dispatched a thumping header past Barovero after a pinpoint cross from Neymar.
River Plate’s starting 11 cost a total of some US$6 million, while Barcelona paid US$85 million for Uruguayan Suarez alone, and the gulf in class showed.
The Catalans, who had already collected the Champions League, Spain’s La Liga, the Copa del Rey and European Super Cup this year, tore River to shreds in the second half. Brazilian star Neymar also came close to scoring with a curling effort that shaved the bar.
Earlier, Douglas came off the bench to score twice and rally Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima to a 2-1 win over Guangzhou in the third-place game.
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