Al Ain will face River Plate in Club World Cup semi-final
Al Ain beat Esperance 3-0 to reach the CWC semis for the first time
Arabian Gulf League title holders Al Ain thrashed African champions Esperance to reach the Club World Cup semi-finals against River Plate.
Mohammed Ahmed, Hussein El Shalat and Bandar Al Ahbabi struck to help the hosts triumph at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium to dispatch their Tunisian opponents.
They face River in the semi after they beat arch-rivals Boca Juniors in Madrid to win the Copa Libertadores and qualify for the Club World Cup.
Esperance: Moez Ben Cherifia, Sameh Derbali, Chamseddine Dhaouadi, Khelil Chemmam (Ali Machani, m.70), Ayman Ben Mohamed, Fousseny Coulibaly, Franck Kom (Adem Rjaeibi, m.63), Ghilane Chaalali (Mohamed Meskini, m.46), Anice Badri, Taha Yassine Khenissi, Mohamed Youcef Belaili.
Al Ain: Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Fayez, Ismail Ahmed, Mohamed Ahmad, Tsukasa Shiotani, Tongo Doumbia (Yahia Nader, m.84), Aboudan Al Jaberi (Amer Abdulrahman, m.67), Ahmed Barman, Hussein El Shahat, Caio, Bandar Mohammed (Marcus Berg, m.80).
Goals: 0-1, m.2: Mohamed Ahmad. 0-2; m.15: Hussein El Shahat; 0-3, m.59: Bandar Mohammed.
Ref: Jair Marrufo (USA). Booked Mohamed Youcef Belaili of Esperance.
