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Sydney, somewhat surprisingly, grabbed fifth place as goals from Yorke and David Carney cancelled out an Emad Motab effort for a disappointing Ahly, while a last-gasp bludgeoning free kick from Ronald Gomez gave Saprissa third after a ding-dong battle with the impressive Ittihad. Tough to deal with, goals from two-metre-tall Peter Crouch began and ended a tasty victory sandwiched by a delicious Steven Gerrard volley in the only one-sided match of the tournament. Liverpool had arrived a few days before and showed no signs of jet-lag as they breezed past Saprissa in the other semi-final. Amoroso and Ceni, from the penalty spot, struck early in the second half but the Saudi side refused to lie down and a header from Asian Player of the Year Hamad Al Montashari had Autuori and Co sweating right until the final whistle. Once the world's most expensive transfer, veteran striker Amoroso gave the Paulista the lead but Noor equalised soon after. And the experienced player grabbed what would prove to be the winner in a match much closer than the Brazilians had dared to imagine. There had been much talk and many clips of the dead ball skills of Sao Paulo's goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni ahead of the semi-final against Ittihad. The competition was bubbling up nicely as the big two entered the fray. A fine Christian Bolanos goal just after half-time was all that separated the sides.
But the Australian side, bossed by former Germany winger Pierre Littbarski and including Japanese legend Kazu Miura and Tobagan and former Manchester United star Dwight Yorke, gave as good as they got. Costa Rica's Deportivo Saprissa, with 23 domestic titles to their name, versus Sydney FC, barely a year old. The other quarter-final, played in the wonderful Toyota City stadium, appeared to be a less evenly matched contest. The Africans, coached by Portuguese Manuel Jose, went into the game on the back of a record 55-match unbeaten run but it was the double Asian champions, guided by the wily Romanian Anghel Iordanescu, who struck the killer blow as captain Mohammed Noor profited from a goalkeeping error on a bitterly cold night in Tokyo. In this edition of the tournament, the six continental kings qualified for the new tournament, designed so the African, Asian, Oceanian and North, Central American and Caribbean champions clashed immediately in the quarter-finals.įirst up, was the eagerly awaited Arab derby between Al Ahly of Egypt and Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia. The English side, laced with foreign stars and spearheaded by Spanish duo Fernando Morientes and Luis Garcia, saw chance after chance go begging with goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni inspirational for a club fondly remembered by the Japanese public.
But the side coached by Paulo Autuori were made to fight as Liverpool came and kept coming determined to bag the only crown still to decorate their glorious history. Mineiro's 27th-minute strike was enough to hand the Brazilians the title in an enthralling encounter in front of almost 67,000 fans at the Yokohama International stadium. At the end of the final bout, Sao Paulo showed the South American chin to be as strong as ever, taking repeated blows before emerging victorious after a 1-0 defeat of European heavyweights Liverpool.
And the FIFA Club World Championship TOYOTA Cup Japan 2005 lived up to the hype, proving to be a largely even contest and a knockout for fans. The six confederation winners met in Japan for the right to be called the best on the planet. It was billed as the champion of champions tournament. Sao Paulo claim right to be called world’s best
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