Mexican side Pachuca made a virtuoso display of rising from the grave as they dealt African titlists Al Ahly of Egypt a 4-2 extension time defeat to barge into the semis of the FIFA Club World Cup 2008 in Japan Saturday.The death defying act pulled off by Pachuca saw them trailed 2-0 at halftime.
But timely adjustments in both offense and defense turned the tables in favor of the Central Americans in the second half. Luis Montes put the Mexicans in the scoring ladder in the 47th minutes before Christian Gimenez equalized it for Pachuca in the 73rd minute to send the game into a 30 minute extension period. From thereon, there is no stopping the Pachuca juggernaut in the extra period as they blasted in two more goals courtesy of Damian Alvarez in the 98th minute and Gimenez again in the 110th minute to make it 4-2. It was a sorry defeat for Manuel Jose's wards as they failed to stop the momentum of Pachuca in the second half as well as in the extension time.
With the win, Pachuca will now play Ecuadorian powerhouse Liga De Quito in the semi finals Wednesday evening.
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Adelaide United will be in for a rough night as they play homeside Gamba Osaka of Japan tonight for the right to meet Manchester United in the semi finals. The Aussies earlier defeated Waitakere United of New Zealand, 2-1.
It will be a grudge rematch between Adelaide and Gamba as both squads battled it out last month for the two-legged AFC Champions League finals. The Japanese side won by an aggregate score of 5-0. Now, the Aussies are looking for payback time but it will be very difficult considering the home advatage of Gamba. But in football anything can happen and that is the beauty in "The Beautiful Game".
But timely adjustments in both offense and defense turned the tables in favor of the Central Americans in the second half. Luis Montes put the Mexicans in the scoring ladder in the 47th minutes before Christian Gimenez equalized it for Pachuca in the 73rd minute to send the game into a 30 minute extension period. From thereon, there is no stopping the Pachuca juggernaut in the extra period as they blasted in two more goals courtesy of Damian Alvarez in the 98th minute and Gimenez again in the 110th minute to make it 4-2. It was a sorry defeat for Manuel Jose's wards as they failed to stop the momentum of Pachuca in the second half as well as in the extension time.
With the win, Pachuca will now play Ecuadorian powerhouse Liga De Quito in the semi finals Wednesday evening.
*****
Adelaide United will be in for a rough night as they play homeside Gamba Osaka of Japan tonight for the right to meet Manchester United in the semi finals. The Aussies earlier defeated Waitakere United of New Zealand, 2-1.
It will be a grudge rematch between Adelaide and Gamba as both squads battled it out last month for the two-legged AFC Champions League finals. The Japanese side won by an aggregate score of 5-0. Now, the Aussies are looking for payback time but it will be very difficult considering the home advatage of Gamba. But in football anything can happen and that is the beauty in "The Beautiful Game".
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