They are the little known Moroccan champions who have decimated the dream of Brazilian great Ronaldinho.
Raja Casablanca, playing
in FIFA's Club World Cup by virtue of Morocco being hosts, will now face
European Champions Bayern Munich on Saturday in a bid to be crowned the
globe's finest club team.
They beat Brazil's
Atletico Mineiro 3-1 in Marrakech to become only the second African side
to make the showpiece final, and in the process deny Ronaldinho perhaps
his last shot at landing the prestigious crown.
The 33-year-old has a
host of titles to his name, including the 2002 World Cup with Brazil,
and spoke of his desire to break into their squad before his home
country host the next installment, in 2014.
Ronaldinho was a losing
finalist with Barcelona in 2006 and will now have to make do with a
match against Asian champions Guangzhou Evergrande to determine who
finishes third in the tournament that pits the champions of each
continent against each other.
The former PSG and
Flamengo star is rumored to be leaving Mineiro when his contract runs
out and could be a target for Turkish club Besiktas.
When his curling free
kick cannoned off the post and into the net just after the hour mark to
make it 1-1, Ronaldinho could be forgiven for dreaming of adding the
Club World Cup to his maiden Copa Libertadores triumph with Mineiro.
It canceled out Raja
Casablanca's opener, scored when Mouhssine Iajour drilled a low shot
into the bottom corner from outside the penalty area.
Despite a flurry of
pressure after they scored Mineiro then shot themselves in the foot as
Rever brought down Iajour inside the area, Mohsine Moutouali converting
from the spot.
As Mineiro pressed hard
for a second equalizer, Vianney Madibe made the game safe to spark wild
scenes of celebration in Marrakech in front of 35,000 fans.
After spoiling
Ronaldinho's night Raja will aim to do the same to Bayern on Saturday,
as the Germans go for their fifth trophy of a remarkable year.
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