Cristiano Ronaldo
scored a hat trick as Real Madrid claimed their second Club World Cup title in
three years, but the Spanish giants needed extra time to see off the spirited
Kashima Antlers 4-2 in Yokohama.
The
Portuguese has won the Champions League, European Championship and Ballon d'Or
in 2016 and ended the year with yet more glory, scoring his side's second from
the penalty spot before settling matters with a pair of fine finishes in the
additional half-hour.
On
paper it was something of a mismatch but Kashima, the first Asian side to reach
the final of the competition, took a second-half lead at 2-1 and could have won
it late in normal time.
Instead
the score was tied at 2-2, Karim Benzema's opener and Ronaldo's penalty weighed
against a fine brace from Gaku Shibasaki, the Japanese team delighting 68,000
fans with their defiance.
That left the stage
clear for Ronaldo, who had been poor for the first 45 minutes, to take a
familiar place in the spotlight and extend Real's unbeaten run in all
competitions to 37 games.
Real
captain Sergio Ramos missed the semifinal win over Club America but took his
place alongside Raphael Varane in defence after being passed fit.
Kashima
came out with an intensity that may have caught their opponents by surprise,
but it did not take Real long to assert themselves.
Just
nine minutes had passed when Luka Modric tried his luck from the edge of the
box, leading to a weak parry from goalkeeper Hitoshi Sogahata. Benzema needed
no invitation to pick up the scraps and duly finished off from close range to
open the scoring.
Mitsu
Ogasawara came close to levelling from the very next attack but it was not
until the 44th minute that the equaliser arrived.
By
that stage Kashima had shown they were up for the contest, finding a foothold
despite hanging on at times.
With
the whistle close both Varane and Casemiro were guilty of failing to snuff out
an attack and when Shibasaki got a smart shot away it was good enough to beat
Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas.
The
crowd reaction was deafening but increased again when the underdogs took a
surprise lead six minutes into the second half.
Shibasaki
produced a gem this time, charging at the defence and letting fly with a fierce
strike when he ran out of options. Once again, Navas had no answer.
By now Real were in no doubt they were in a game but on the hour
Lucas Vazquez was clipped by Shuto Yamamoto.
Ronaldo,
whose input had thus far been sorely lacking, cracked the spot-kick into the
bottom corner.
He
had the ball in the net again in the 72nd minute, after Sogahata pushed
Benzema's shot back into the area, but an offside flag was correctly raised
against the Portuguese.
Real
would have lost late on had Navas not saved well from Fabricio and Ramos
appeared close to a second yellow card in injury time only for the referee to
seemingly change his mind.
Ronaldo
gave La Liga's leaders the lead on 97 minutes, controlling Benzema's incisive
pass before finishing left-footed.
Even
that did not crush Kashima's hope and they responded by rattling the crossbar
through Yuma Suzuki. It needed Ronaldo to finally resolve things and he
obliged, intercepting a Toni Kroos shot and slotting home himself to bring the
trophy back to the Bernabeu.
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