TOKYO,13 December 2007 — Midfielder Neri Cardozo steered 10-man Boca Juniors to a 1-0 victory over Tunisia’s Etoile Sahel and a place in the Club World Cup final yesterday.

Cardozo scored in the 37th minute and the Argentine side held on despite a 65th minute red card for defender Fabian Vargas to seal a place in Sunday’s final against AC Milan or Japan’s Urawa Reds.

“I don’t think Vargas deserved a red card but we have good players to cover for his absence in the final,” Boca coach Miguel Angel Russo told reporters. “We still dominated with 10 players and created a lot of chances. Milan must beat Urawa first but if we face them we will need to improve, particularly in midfield.” Cardozo smashed in the winner left-footed from close range after a clever ball from Rodrigo Palacio.

Etoile were given a let-off just after the interval when former Liverpool defender Gabriel Paletta headed over the bar with goalkeeper Aymen Balbouli caught out of position.

Boca were reduced to 10 men when Colombian Vargas was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Etoile substitute Mahdi Ben Dhifallah.

They could still have added to their lead, with captain Martin Palermo coming close before substitute Alvaro Gonzalez was denied a clear penalty after being clattered from behind.

“We played one of the best games in our history,” said Etoile’s French coach Bertrand Marchand, whose side had upset Mexico’s Pachuca 1-0 in the quarterfinals.

“Boca are one of the world’s top sides and we gave them a difficult game. They have the quality to score goals out of nothing — different class. One bit of magic won the game.”

Milan and Urawa meet in the other semifinal today. Boca won the Club World Cup’s forerunner, a one-off game between the champions of Europe and South America, three times, the last time beating Milan on penalties in 2003.

Brazilian clubs won the first two versions of the new-look FIFA tournament. Sao Paulo beat Liverpool 1-0 in 2005 before Internacional stunned Barcelona by the same score last year.

Real Brimming With Confidence

After Powering Into Last 16

In Madrid, Real Madrid’s authoritative 3-1 win over Lazio at the Bernabeu on Tuesday left them brimming with confidence about their chances of claiming a 10th European Cup this season. Real floored the Serie A side inside the first 15 minutes at the Bernabeu thanks to quickfire goals from Julio Baptista and Raul, and the in-form Robinho put the result beyond doubt when he added a third before halftime. The victory meant that the Spanish giants qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League for the 11th season in a row, but more importantly they went through as group winners for the first time in four years. “We’ve achieved our objective and finished in first place and now I hope we get a big name team as our next opponents,” said Real Madrid skipper Raul.

“My goal isn’t important, what really matters is the form of the team,” he said. “I really hope that this will be our year in the Champions League.” Real won the last of their nine European Cups in 2002, but since then they have gone into a steady decline, exiting the competition in the first knockout round in the last three seasons in a row.

However, the manner of Tuesday’s victory and the fact that the team have a 100 percent record at the Bernabeu in all competitions this season, will strengthen Real’s belief that they can reclaim their place as the kings of European football.

“I’m not worried who we get in the draw,” said Real coach Bernd Schuster. “All out potential opponents will be difficult, but having got first place we’ve got that small advantage of playing the second leg at home and that is what I was concerned about.

“I’m very relaxed because the players are in great form and everything seems to be going well. I’ve never had any doubts about the quality of this team.

“Now that we have done our job in the Champions League we have the chance to concentrate on doing well in the league and the (King’s) Cup.”