Santos takes on Barcelona in the final of the Club World Cup Sunday, pitting Lionel Messi against Neymar in what is being billed as a clash between two of the finest players on the planet. The European champion Barca will be clear favorite against the Brazilians, who were sublime going forward but edgy at the back in their semifinal 3-1 defeat of Japanese side Kashiwa Reysol Wednesday. There was no such trouble in Japan for the Catalans, who thrashed Qatari side Al Sadd 4-0 Thursday to set up the highly anticipated showdown with the South American champion and its highly rated young striker Neymar. But the easy victory came at a heavy price for Pep Guardiola's side, who lost prolific forward David Villa to a leg fracture that will see him out for up to five months. Guardiola has admitted his men were shaken by the injury. The Barca coach, who has won every trophy going in his three-and-a-half years in charge including the Club World Cup in 2009, said he had told his players to expect Santos to play on the break. “They are likely to counter-attack and they are dangerous because of Neymar,” said Guardiola, also stressing that Santos was more than just its 19-year-old talisman, and was a fast team packed with tall players. “Rather than tactics, we want to control the game and have a good percentage of ball possession,” said Guardiola, asked how the Spanish champion, widely regarded as one of the best club sides ever, would deal with the Neymar threat. Santos coach Muricy Ramalho said after the Kashiwa win that his side would need to defend far better against Messi and company. The Argentine superstar was not at his brilliant best Thursday, where he set up one goal but displayed only tantalizing glimpses of his trademark mesmerizing dribbling skills for a packed house of over 60,000 in Yokohama. Morocco to host Club Cup Morocco will become the first African country to host the annual Club World Cup of continental winners, FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced Saturday. The north African country will host the 2013 and 2014 editions of the tournament, Blatter said. The 2012 tournament will also be in Japan.
