Japanese champion Sanfrecce Hiroshima beat Auckland City 2-0 Thursday in the opening game of the Club World Cup, booking its place in the quarterfinals. Yusuke Minagawa and Tsukasa Shiotani found the net in each half as Auckland's assortment of semiprofessionals — who remarkably finished third at last year's tournament in Morocco — were dispatched with ease in drizzly Yokohama. Minagawa pounced from close range in the ninth minute after Auckland goalkeeper Jacob Spoonley had fumbled a shot from Gakuto Notsuda that fizzed up off the wet turf. Shiotani squeezed home a second from an acute angle on 70 minutes as Hiroshima, which clinched its third J-League title last week, advanced to face Congolese side Mazembe in Osaka at the weekend. European champion Barcelona and Argentina's River Plate, the South American Libertadores Cup holder, join the seven-team tournament at the semifinal stage next week. The final takes place in Yokohama on Dec. 20.
