After a tight contest between hosts Kashima Antlers and Auckland City, Mamelodi Sundowns' first FIFA Club World Cup opponents were revealed.
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Antlers, the J. League champions, kept the perfect opening match record of Japanese teams at the tournament alive, and became the sixth Japanese club hosting the Club World Cup to win their quarter-final playoff.
Meanwhile, Auckland, the winners of the Oceania Football Confederation Champions League, with South African Ryan de Vries in their starting line-up, have extended their record for the most appearances in the tournament to 14, but will not be able to extend this run this year.
The first half was short of highlights and the scoreline remained goalless at its end, with Antlers looking the stronger of the two sides.
However, things changed early in the second half when Auckland's Dae-Wook Kim scored the opener with a powerful header after 50 minutes of play.
The hosts, though, managed to grab an equaliser through Shuhei Akasaki following some nice build-up play by the Japanese side, with just over 20 minutes left.
Antlers kept the pressure on the New Zealand club and found the winner in the 88th minute through Mu Kanazaki, who scored with a header from close range.
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Sundowns will hope to avenge last year's CAF Champions League winners TP Mazembe, who lost 3-0 against the representative of the host nation in the quarter-final.
Masandawana's game against Antlers will take place on Sunday, 12:30 SA time.
Do you think Sundowns can beat the host side? Have your say in the comments section below.
