Paulinho earns Guangzhou dream Barcelona tie

OSAKA, Japan: Former Spurs midfielder Paulinho snatched an injury-time winner as China’s Guangzhou Evergrande stunned Mexico’s Club America 2-1 on Sunday to set up a Club World Cup semi-final against Barcelona in Japan.

Japanese champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima upset Congolese side Mazembe 3-0 in the second quarter-final in Osaka, sending the local favourites through to face Argentina’s Libertadores Cup holders River Plate.

Paulinho climbed to head in a corner with virtually the last touch of the game, completing an improbable comeback for Asian champions Guangzhou and leaving dazed America players sobbing on the turf at the final whistle.

“I play the game for moments like that,” Paulinho told reporters. “You never know what will happen in football so it’s better not to talk too much before the match, just play.”

Veteran striker Oribe Peralta had ended Guangzhou’s resistance with a diving header five minutes after the break, only for substitute Zheng Long to equalise against the run of play for Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side 10 minutes from time.

Paulinho, the architect for Zheng’s classic sucker punch after a swift counter-attack, then sent Chinese fans wild as he put Evergrande through to a dream tie with European champions Barcelona in Yokohama on Thursday.

It was all too much for the fanatical America fans who braved the cold, many of them bare-chested and wearing colourful Mexican “lucha libre”-style wrestling masks.