Guangzhou 0 Bayern Munich 3: Ribery, Mandzukic and Gotze on target as European Champions ease into Club World Cup final

Bayern Munich made predictably light work of Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande, dispatching the Chinese side 3-0 in their Club World Cup semi-final and hitting the woodwork five times on Tuesday.
The Bundesliga giants broke the deadlock through Franck Ribery five minutes before half time, while Mario Manduzic and Mario Gotze rounded off the comfortable win inside seven minutes from the opener.
Guangzhou, coached by Italy World Cup winner Marcello Lippi, held out for 40 minutes, gifted the European champions two soft goals in quick succession, conceded another right after halftime and defended heroically in the second half to keep the score respectable.

Bayern's shots against the woodwork included one effort from Toni Kroos which bounced down off the underside of the crossbar and on to the line and which goalline technology showed did not enter the goal.
The German side's goalkeeper Manuel Neuer did not have a shot to save but kept himself entertained with some South American-style forays outside his penalty area.
Despite the gulf in class, Guangzhou were no more out of their depth than many of the other hapless teams who have faced the Bavarians recently in the Champions League and Bundesliga.
'Today, we saw the real difference between us and the strongest team in the world,' Lippi told reporters.
'But it's not just us, they play with this superiority against everyone else.'

The stadium was less than one third full at kick-off but filled during the match. There was an unusual atmosphere with a small contingent of Bayern fans singing traditional songs at one end while the rest of the crowd chanted the name of local club Hassania Agadir.
Guanghzou enjoyed less than 10 minutes of possession in the first half and failed to cope with Bayern's pressing, struggling to get out of their own third of the field.
Thiago Alcantara hit the post with a shot on the turn and Jerome Boateng sent a long-range effort swerving wide, then Kroos saw his effort thump against the bar.
There was also confusion with the use of the vanishing spray, which referees deploy at the tournament to mark the position of the defensive wall at free kicks, as Guangzhou complained that the line on the pitch was more than nine metres from the ball.
Lippi had warned his team before the game that all mistakes would be ruthlessly punished and that was exactly what happened before halftime.

Guangzhou were five minutes from the break when they failed to clear the ball and Franck Ribery scored with shot which went under goalkeeper Zeng Chen who should have stopped the ball.
Four minutes later, Huang Bowen lost possession on the edge of the area and Thiago Alcantara chipped the ball across to the far post where an unmarked Mario Mandzukic stooped to head the second.
The second half had barely started when Mario Goetze added a third with a looping shot from outside the area which took a slight deflection off a defender.
Bayern had a succession of chances to increase their lead, hitting the post three more times. Goalkeeper Chen made several good saves to atone for his earlier mistake and his team mates defended with dogged determination to keep the Bavarians at bay.
'We played good possession, we didn't give them the chance to counter,' said Bayern coach Pep Guardiola. 'You always have to play well, take it seriously and stay focused.'
Bayern will face either Atletico Mineiro or Raja Casablanca, who meet in the other semi-final on Wednesday, in the final.

MATCH FACTS

Bayern Munich: Neuer, Lahm, Rafinha, Boateng, Van Buyten, Thiago, Ribery (Shaqiri 73), Gotze, Alaba, Kroos (Martinez 59), Madzukic (Pizarro 76)
Subs: Starke, Dante, Kirchhoff, Weiser, Muller, Contento, Hojbjerg, Green, Raeder
Goals: Ribery 40, Mandzukic 44, Gotze 47
Guangzhou: Zheng, Sun, Zhang, Kim, Feng, Zhi, Conca, Huang (Rong 47), Zhao (Feng 77), Elkeson, Muriqui (Gao 73)
Subs: Yang, Yi, Peng, Qin, Renliang, Li, Yang, Huang

Morocco 1 - 1 South Africa - International Friendly 11.10.2013 Adrar Stadium

They hung on for most of the second half, but in the end South Africa were good value for a 1-1 draw in their international friendly against Morocco on Friday night.

Tokelo Rantie had silenced the home crowd with an early goal, but Issam El Adoua's header early in the second half meant there was to be no victory for Bafana Bafana.

Gordon Igesund handed a debut to Bidvest Wits captain Sibusiso Vilakazi, while there was also a long overdue return for Daylon Claasen.

In front of a very vocal home crowd, Bafana showed they would not be overawed as they got off to a great start, with first Claasen and then Rantie firing shots in at goal.

Morocco soon found their feet and it took a great save from Itumeleng Khune to deny Youssef El Arabi from scoring from a header from 18 yards out.

But any hopes the hosts had of creating some dominance went out the window in the ninth minute when Rantie scored the first ever goal at the Agadir Stadium. A quick counter-attack saw Claasen - who had won the ball in midfield - feed the Bournemouth striker, who showed great composure to finish past Amsif.

The crowd immediately got on their players' backs and the pressure showed as the South Africans grabbed a foothold.

Rantie's running and movement was causing all sorts of havoc and he again got in behind the defence, but his pass to the onrushing Lerato Chabangu was intercepted at the vital moment.

Khune was then called upon to deny the hosts, this time with a sharp save after a free-kick had found captain Mehdi Benatia unmarked in the area.

However, Bafana kept pressing for a second goal with first Chabangu's free-kick behind saved, before Rantie just failed to get on the end of Bernard Parker's cross.

Morocco came close again just past the half-hour mark when Omar El Kaddouri's mazy run ended with his shot hitting the side-netting, while Khune was at full stretch again soon after to keep out a rasping drive from Benatia.

Bafana came ever so close to adding a second just before the break when an excellent build-up saw Parker playing in Vilakazi, but his low shot was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper.

Whatever was said in the home dressing-room at halftime seemed to have done the trick as the Moroccans came out firing in the second half.

Bafana had hardly had a touch of the ball when the equaliser came on 49 minutes. Predictably, it came via a header as El Adoua was left unmarked to head home Younes Belhanda's free-kick, though the 'foul' which led to the set-piece was soft at best.

The hosts dominated possession after that, but without ever creating any clear-cut chances. Substitute Abel Taarabt proved a handful and displayed some good skill to leave Dean Furman for dead, but his shot was blocked.

Debutant Kgosi Nthle got away with a late error in the box, while another newcomer, Ayanda Patosi, fired a speculative shot wide late on and Parker's powerful run and shot resulted in nothing but a corner, but in the end Bafana would have been happy to escape the new Agadir Stadium with a draw -- and their unbeaten record against Morocco intact.

Bafana starting XI: Khune, Ngcongca, Khumalo, Xulu, Masilela (Nthle 67th), Claasen, Furman, Vilakazi (Zungu 46th), Chabangu (Patosi 59), Parker (Letsholonyane 83rd), Rantie (Erasmus 70th)

Morocco starting XI: Amsif, Bergdich, Benatia, El Adoua, Noussair, Feddal, Obbadi, El Kaddouri, Barrada, Belhanda, El Arabi