Luis Suarez fired a hat-trick as Barcelona overcame the loss of Lionel Messi to kidney trouble by beating China’s Guangzhou Evergrande 3-0 on Thursday to reach the Club World Cup final FP reports.
The Spanish giants will face Argentine side River Plate in Yokohama on Sunday as they look to become the first team to win the competition three times.
“Luis Suarez is deadly inside the box, he will always score for you,” Barca coach Luis Enrique told reporters. “He’s a spectacular player.”
The European champions were rocked before the semi-final when Messi was sidelined with renal colic – commonly caused by kidney stones – which could also rule him out of the final.
Initially Barca missed Messi’s wizardry and the guile of his Brazilian strike partner Neymar, who was rested as he recovers from a groin strain.
“We don’t know if we’ll have Messi and Neymar for the final,” Enrique said when quizzed about his two superstars.
But Messi refused to rule himself out, posting on his Facebook page, “Great job from the whole team, we’re in the final! It’s never fun to miss any game, but I hope to get better to be able to help in the final.”
The Catalans toiled to break down Evergrande’s massed ranks of defenders, until Suarez pounced six minutes before half-time, poking in a loose ball after goalkeeper Li Shuai parried Ivan Rakitic’s fierce drive from the edge of the box.
The Uruguayan grabbed his second five minutes after the break when he latched onto a superb Andres Iniesta pass, bringing the ball down on his chest before volleying past Li to the delight of most in the crowd of 63,000.
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