Published 4/4/2007 10:39:05 PM by Shane Barrow from Dallas, Texas

Wednesday's final round of group play produced more great soccer as Real Madrid, Chelsea and Sao Paolo all booked spots in Friday's semifinal round.  However, the wildcard spot was in question as play ended.

Real Madrid rolled through Group A play winning all 3 games without allowing a goal.  On Wednesday they held off a fiesty Deportivo Saprissa side 1-0.  An early 2nd half goal stood up as the Real Madrid goalkeeper cleaned up dangerous through balls by playing well off his line.  The other Group A game saw Southampton beat Solar SC 4-2 and lay a claim to the wildcard spot for Friday.

In Group B, Chelsea put on a clinic in overwhelming US national champion Arsenal FC 5-1.  It was one of the performances of the tournament so far as Chelsea spread Arsenal out and controlled possession.  Arsenal did create a couple of quality chances early in the game that went unfinished, but as the match wore on Chelsea exerted more and more control.  The other game saw Chivas grab a late goal to beat Japanese side Takigawa Dai Ni 3-2.

Sao Paulo ended the day in grand fashion dominating Irish side Shamrock Rovers 6-1 to claim the Group C title.  The other match saw Tigres down Germany's Eintracht Grankfurt 2-0 and also lay a claim to the wildcard spot.

The Wildcard-
With group play complete both Tigres and Southampton sit on 6 points with an identical 7-5 goals.  Southampton has been awarded the spot in Fridays semifinal.  I would speculate the decision had to come down to who had fewer cards, but again that is total speculation at this point.

Fridays semifinal schedule -
6:00 Chelsea - Southampton
8:00 Real Madrid - Sao Paulo

Print