ABU DHABI: Lionel Messi scored within two minutes of coming on as a substitute to help Barcelona complete a 3-1 comeback win over Mexico’s Atlante on Wednesday and reach the Club World Cup final against Estudiantes.
Forward Guillermo Rojas put the CONCACAF champions ahead in the fifth minute and midfielder Sergio Busquets equalized after 35.
Ballon d’Or winner Messi came off the bench to wild cheers from the near-capacity 40,952 crowd at the Zayed Sports City in the 53rd minute and put the European champions ahead almost immediately.
Barcelona increased their lead when a fine run down the left and into the box by Andres Iniesta ended with Pedro scoring from close in. Barca meet Argentina’s Estudiantes, the South American champions, in the final on Saturday.
CONCACAF champions Atlante went ahead after five minutes when their Argentine keeper Federico Vilar punted a free kick deep into the Barcelona half, defender Rafael Marquez missed the ball and Rojas darted through, lobbing keeper Victor Valdes and turning it into the net.
Vilar dived to his right to save a header by Busquets from a corner from the right taken by Xavi in the seventh minute.
The Mexican side could have had a second three minutes later when right back Navarro sprung the offside trap to run through on goal, but instead of shooting he elected to pass, failing to find his two team mates in the middle.
Busquets equalized 10 minutes before halftime with a low right-footed, first-time shot from the left after Yaya Toure had flicked on with his head a corner from the right by Xavi.
Messi, having been a doubt for the match with a right ankle injury, came on for midfielder Toure and within two minutes raced on to a fine through pass from Zlatan Ibrahimovic to round Vilar and score.
Pedro added the third in the 67th minute when he hit the ball past Vilar after Iniesta had won the ball on the left and made a jinking run into the box.
The 22-year-old forward now has a remarkable record of having scored in all six competitions Barca have taken part in this year.
Atlante striker Rafael Marquez broke away on the right with a good chance to reduce the deficit but his shot was saved one-handed by the advancing Valdes.
Substitute Bojan Krkic fluffed an excellent chance right in front of goal to increase Barca’s lead and they could have scored again from several late moves with Messi causing havoc in the Atlante defense.
The most spectacular was Ibrahimovic’s effort from 35 meters out on the left that was pushed away for a corner by Vilar’s diving save.
Premier League asks Wolves for team explanation In London, Wolverhampton Wanderers have been asked to explain their decision to field a weakened side for Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat by Manchester United, the Premier League said on Wednesday.
“The Premier League Board has written to Wolverhampton Wanderers to request their observations in relation to the team fielded in their League fixture against Manchester United,” the statement read.
“Once the observations are received the Board will decide whether any further action is warranted.” Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, whose team face fellow strugglers Burnley on Sunday, selected a virtual second-string lineup for the Old Trafford defeat which put them back in the relegation zone.
“I took the decision knowing full well that questions would be asked and was has happened is that we’ve come out tonight without any more injuries,” McCarthy was quoted as saying on the club website (www.wolves.co.uk). Only goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann survived from the side which recorded a surprise 1-0 victory at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend leading some Wolves fans to chant “we want our money back” during the United match.
The defeat dropped Wolves back to 18th in the league, above West Ham United and Portsmouth, with 16 points from 17 games, while United drew level on 37 points with leaders Chelsea.
“I read an article somewhere how (Chelsea manager) Carlo Ancelotti had said that the risk of injury in one game is 10 percent.,” McCarthy said.
“And then that goes up to 30 or 40 percent if another intensive game follows in three or four days. We believe that anyway...” “That was the best team available to me tonight because it was fresh legs and I thought we were as competitive tonight as we were against Chelsea and Arsenal.” Premier League Rule E20 states that clubs are required to field full-strength sides in every match but a League spokesman said on Tuesday it was very hard to enforce because managers often rotated their squads.
