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FIFA Club World Cup 2011: Santos FC 0-4 FC Barcelona

FIFA Club World Cup 2011 - Final - Santos FC vs FC Barcelona

FIFA Club World Cup 2011 - Final - Santos FC vs FC Barcelona

Spanish giants FC Barcelona have won the FIFA Club World Cup 2011 in an one-sided final against Santos FC at the International Stadium Yokohama, Japan. The reigning UEFA Champions League champions recorded a 4-0 win against the Copa Libertadores champions from Brazil.

Barcelona took the lead in the 17th minute through Argentine superstar Lionel Messi. Messi collected a great through ball by Xavi and chipped the ball over Santos keeper Rafael Cabral and made it 1-0.

Barca increased the pace and they were rewarded in the 24th minute through a powerful strike by Xavi. Dani Alves found an unmarked Xavi in the box and the midfielder slotted it home much to the chagrin of Santos coach Muricy Ramalho.

Many fans were expecting a “clash of the titans” between Lionel Messi and Brazilian wonderboy Neymar. But the Brazilian striker had no chance to impress as Barca dominated the match and left Santos astonished.

The Europeans continued their impressive performance and even increased the lead just second before the half-time whistle was blown. Cesc Fabregas took advantage of a defensive mess in the Santos box and scored the third goal for his team.

Santos had more possession in the second half, as Barca let the Brazilians play without losing the control of the game.

Lionel Messi topped his impressive performance with another goal in the 82nd minute. The superstar received a well timed pass by Dani Alves, before he rounded past Santos keeper Rafael Cabral and put the ball into the empty goal.

Barcelona won the FIFA Club World Cup, a competition between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations, for the second time after 2009, while AFC Champions League champions Al-Sadd secured the bronze medal.

Al-Sadd faced Japan’s Kashiwa Reysol in the 3rd Place Match earlier today. Both teams were locked goalless after regulation and exta-time. The match went into a penalty shoot-out, which the Qataris won 5-3.

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FIFA Club World Cup 2011 – Final
at the International Stadium Yokohama, Japan

SANTOS FC 0-4 FC BARCELONA

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GOALS
0-1 Lionel Messi (17′)
0-2 Xavi (24′)
0-3 Cesc Fabregas (45′)
0-4 Lionel Messi (82′)

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LINE-UPS

Santos FC
1-Rafael Cabral; 2-Edu Dracena [C], 3-Léo, 4-Danilo (31′ 8-Elano), 6-Durval, 14-Bruno Rodrigo; 5-Arouca, 7-Henrique, 10-Paulo Henrique Ganso (83′ 18-Ibson); 9-Borges (79′ 19-Alan Kardec), 11-Neymar

Unused Subs
12-Aranha, 23-Vladimir; 13-Bruno Aguiar, 15-Anderson Carvalho, 16-Vinicius, 17-Felipe Anderson, 20-Wason Renteria, 21-Para, 22-Diogo

FC Barcelona
1-Victor Valdes; 2-Dani Alves, 3-Gerard Pique (56′ 14-Javir Mascherano), 5-Carles Puyol [C] (85′ 24-Andreu Fontas), 22-Eric Abidal; 16-Sergio Busquets, 11-Thiago (79′ 17-Pedro), 6-Xavi, 4-Cesc Fabregas, 8-Andres Iniesta; 10-Lionel Messi

Unused Subs
13-Pinto, 25-Oier Olazabal; 9-Alexis Sanchez, 15-Seydou Keita, 18-Jonathan Dos Santos, 19-Maxwell, 21-Adriano, 27-Isaac Cuenca

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MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee
Ravshan Irmatov (UZB)

Assistant Referees
Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (UZB), Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)

Fourth Officials
Yuichi Nishimura (JPN)

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BOOKINGS

Yellow Cards
39′ Gerard Pique (FC Barcelona)
71′ Javir Mascherano (FC Barcelona)
73′ Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos FC)
74′ Edu Dracena (Santos FC)

Red Card
none