FIFA Club World Cup 2011 Semifinals: Santos, Barcelona Progress To Final As Expected

I’ve never been quite sure why the Club World Cup is allowed to be a thing. It’s a glorified friendly tour except it’s played in the middle of the season instead of before it. Okay, so it’s a thing because FIFA realized, “damn there’s a lot of money in that club football thing,” but that’s not really a reason that will make fans happy.

A reason that will make fans happy is that as useless as it might be, it’s another chance to watch Neymar do Neymar-like things. You know, things like he did against Kashiwa Reysol last night/this morning/wherever the sun happened to be in your part of the world.

Kashiwa Reysol gave the Copa Libertadores holders a second-half scare in Japan, but Santos FC were ultimately able to coast through to the final of the 2011 FIFA Club World Cup with a 3-1 victory. They await the winner of the Barcelona vs. Al-Sadd match, which takes place on Thursday. Neymar was arguably man of the match, much to no one’s surprise, and he scored an absolutely brilliant opening goal. Also contributing goals was the Brasileirao’s golden boot winner Borges and Porto-bound star Danilo.

Neymar’s 18th minute goal was the opener, a fantastic shot into the corner of the net from the edge of the penalty area, assisted by Paulo Henrique Ganso. Borges almost matched him for class in the 23rd minute, doubling Santos’ lead in five minutes with a goal of his own from the edge of the area.

First, a fifth place match! CONCACAF champions CF Monterrey take on CAF champions Esperance in a consolation match after both teams lost their opening matches. This marks approximately the eleventy billionth time that a Mexican side has had solid expectations, then failed to advance to the semifinals of the Club World Cup. The chairmen at Mexican clubs are notoriously fickle and Victor Manuel Vucetich might get fired in the airport when his side comes back home from Japan.

Kashiwa Reysol, the shock J. League 1 champions, take on Santos FC in the first semifinal match on Wednesday, taking place three hours after the fifth place match. They were relegated two years ago and incredibly won the J. League 2 and J. League 1 championships back to back, becoming the first team to ever win the top flight in Japan a year after getting promoted from the second division.