Sanfrecce sunk by Al Ahly

 Toyota: Sanfrecce Hiroshima failed to advance to the semi-finals of the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup after going down 2-1 to African champions Al Ahly at the Toyota Stadium on Sunday.
A roller-coaster first half began with Sanfrecce's first-choice goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa stretchered off with a facial injury with just four minutes played after being involved in a collision with bulky Al Ahly striker Gedo.
Striker Elsayad Hamdi then helped Al Ahly take the lead inthe 15th minute, converting a pass from Ahmed Fathi before beating Sanfrecce's substitute goalkeeper Takuya Masuda, who didn't play a single J.League game this term.
J.League Player of the Year Hisato Sato then equalised in the 32nd minute after he got behind the Al Ahly defence and hit a right-footed shot that deflected in off goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy but Al Ahly's four-World Cup-veteran Mohamed Aboutrika, who came on as a substitute, took a pass from Fathi and scored the winning goal that set a semi-final clash with South American champions Corinthians of Brazil on Wednesday.
"In the second half we lost our concentration, the team was tired. Despite that we still managed to create some good chances, but unfortunately we didn't make the most of them," said Sanfrecce coach Hajime Moriyasu.
"Now we'll prepare for the match for fifth place against Ulsan Hyundai as best we can. We want to continue to play well here on the international stage. We've picked up a lot of valuable experience against physically strong teams here and have seen that we're able to compete with them."
Sanfrecce will battle it out in the fifth place match also on Wednesday against the AFC Champions League winners, who were defeated 3-1 by South American champions Monterrey of Mexico.