NEWS

Asian champions Gamba Osaka finished third in the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2008 presented by Toyota after beating CONCACAF champions Pachuca of Mexico 1-0 thanks to a goal by Masato Yamazaki in the third-place playoff on Sunday at International Stadium Yokohama.

Gamba became the second J. League club to finish third in the annual world club competition following Urawa Reds last year.
“We challenged hard with our Gamba brand of football and produced the right result,” said Gamba manager Akira Nishino. “Our players displayed a challenging spirit and this will help us move on to another level.”
Gamba played aggressively from the start and created good chances through Japan midfielder Yasuhito Endo and forwards Ryuji Bando and Lucas.
In the 29th minute, Bando diverted a lobbed Hideo Hashimoto ball into space behind the Pachuca backline and Yamazaki dashed in from the right to score.
Gamba came close to widening their lead three minutes later when Bando latched on to a Lucas ball and hit a shot from the edge of the box, but his attempt was denied by goalkeeper Miguel Calero.
The north Osaka team went on the attack after the break and Yamazaki came close with an effort in the 55th minute.
The Mexicans then tried hard to rally, with Paul Aguilar and Jose Cardenas coming close.
Satoshi Yamaguchi hit the post in the 88th minute and Gamba held on to the end, despite going down to 10 men when Futagawa was red-carded in stoppage time.
“Our players couldn’t do what they wanted to,” Nishino said. “But they managed to get a result after putting everything into the game. I’d like to give them credit for taking control of the game, even when the conditions were not great.”
“[Pachuca] had something we could learn from and I’m glad we had an opportunity to play them. We’ve now experienced three different styles of football from different football continents.”
Nishino continued, “I think we have represented ourselves well by winning the AFC Champions League as a J. League side. The J. League should show its leadership in Asia. I’m happy that we took part in this competition and won it.”