ASIAN champions Al Hilal netted a late equaliser to take their Club World Cup clash against Wydad Casablanca into extra time in Rabat as the match finished 1-1 before triumphing in a penalty shootout yesterday.
The Saudi Arabian side won the shootout 5-3 to secure a semi-final berth against Flamengo of Brazil.
Musab Al Juwayr converted the winning penalty after Morocco World Cup full back Yahya Attiat-Allah had missed the first kick for the African champions.
Morocco’s Wydad, roared on by a partisan capacity crowd, had taken the lead early in the second half through Ayoub El Amloud but gave away a penalty four minutes into stoppage time at the end of the 90 minutes to allow Mohamed Kanno to equalise.
Wydad’s captain Yahya Jabrane was sent off for a second bookable offence at the same time, although Kanno was red carded four minutes into extra time as both clubs were reduced to 10 men.
The elimination of the African champions will come as a major blow to the Moroccan organisers, hoping for more international success soon after their national team reached the World Cup semi-final in Qatar in December.
In Tangier, a deflected shot handed Egypt’s Al Ahly a late winner as they edged Seattle Sounders 1-0 to book a semi-final against Real Madrid.
Mohamed Afsha’s 88th minute rebound, after he had initially struck the woodwork, took a wicked deflection to win the game for the Egyptian club and set up a dream match-up for them against the European champions.
Afsha hit a speculative effort from distance that looped over Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei and dipped onto the crossbar, bouncing right back into his path and allowing him a volley that Alex Roldan steered past his own goalkeeper as he stuck his foot out to block the shot.
Al Hilal and Flamengo meet on Tuesday in Tangier with Real Madrid taking on Al Ahly of Egypt in Wednesday’s second semi-final.
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