FIFA Club World Cup

Spot on Al-Sadd claim third place

Qatari club Al-Sadd claimed third place in the FIFA Club World Cup with a penalty shoot-out victory over Kashiwa Reysol of Japan in Yokohama.

Al-Sadd goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr became the hero with a penalty save from Ryohei Hayashi, after it had been the keeper's error which allowed Adriano to set Barcelona on the way to a 4-0 win in the semi-final.

Mohamed had also been key in keeping J.League champions Kashiwa at bay throughout the 90 minutes as Asian Champions League winners Al-Sadd ended their year on a high.

A lifeless first quarter of the match gave way to a frantic spell of action, with Junya Tanaka cutting in from the right for Kashiwa and his low left-foot shot clipped the outside of the post with Mohamed beaten.

Tanaka had an even better chance seconds later as Naoya Kondo's cross found him unmarked close to goal, but Mohamed was able to parry his shot wide. From the resulting corner, taken by Jorge Wagner, Hideaki Kitajima headed wide.

Kader Keita tested Kashiwa goalkeeper Takanori Seguno 10 minutes from the break while at the other end Mohamed again had to be smart to keep out Kitajima's effort.

The second half got off to a similarly slow start as the first and after Koki Mizuno dragged a shot wide after an hour's play, Mohamed came out bravely to block Kitajima's shot after the veteran forward chested the ball down and tried to apply the finish from six yards.

Ibrahim Abdulmajed almost broke the deadlock in the 74th minute, but his dipping, swerving shot was pushed over the top by Sugeno and it took a superb defensive block from Kondo to deflect a Mamadou Niang shot on to the roof of the net.

Hayashi had the last effort of the match in the first minute of injury time but again Mohamed was equal to it, and Hayashi was denied again by the goalkeeper in the shoot-out with Nadir Belhadj scoring the decisive spot-kick for Al-Sadd, who converted all five of their penalties.