African Champions Wydad Casablanca will play Asian Champions Urawa Red Diamonds in the FIFA World Club Chmpionships fifth place play-off at Al Ain’s Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Wydad crushed out of the main cup after going down 1-0 against Mexico’s Pachuka in the quarter-finals Saturday, while Urawa suffered the same fate in the hands of UAE Champions Aljazira.
Victor Guzman’s 112th header crushed Wydad’s hopes of flying the hopes of Africa all the way to the finals.
But 32-year-old Moroccan midfielder Abdeladim Khadrouf, who is featuring at the global event for the second time, is hopeful of exiting on a high by beating the Japanese side.
“Our fans believe in us because they know what the team is capable of.
“We’ll be extra motivated to win the next match so we can dedicate the victory to them,” the Moghreb Tetouan player told FIFA.com.
