Brazil team upsets Barcelona for club title

Substitute Adriano scored late in the second half Sunday, and South American champion Internacional of Brazil upset Spanish powerhouse Barcelona, 1-0, to win the Club World Cup.

Inter forward Iarley fought off a challenge from defender Carles Puyol and made a superb pass to Adriano, who beat Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes in the 82nd minute.

“I can’t believe I scored the goal that won the world club title,” 19-year-old Adriano said. “We’ve beaten Barcelona and it was a very satisfying performance. They were strong in the first half, but we played as a cohesive unit.”

Ronaldinho had a chance to tie the game four minutes after Adriano’s goal, but his free kick from the top of the penalty area sailed inches wide of the post.

“We played 90 minutes just waiting for our opportunity,” Iarley said.

Playing in front of 67,128 at International Stadium Yokohama, Barcelona controlled play early and had its best scoring chance on a Giovanni Van Bronckhorst shot in the 19th minute. Barcelona had twice as many shots on goal as Inter did in the first half, but the South American champions defended well and made things difficult for the Spanish side.

Barcelona Coach Frank Rijkaard sent Spanish midfielder Xavi on early in the second half, and he came close in the 74th minute with an angled volley that Inter goalie Clemer saved.

Barcelona was playing without Argentine forward Lionel Messi, who injured his foot in a match against Spanish team Real Zaragoza last month and will be sidelined for up to three months. Samuel Eto’o also is injured and did not make the trip to Japan.

Internacional advanced to the final with a 2-1 win over Egypt’s Al Ahly on Wednesday. Barcelona coasted to a 4-0 win over Mexico’s Club America in Thursday’s other semifinal.

Last year, Sao Paulo took the title by upsetting Liverpool, 1-0.

Internacional qualified for the Club World Cup by winning the Copa Libertadores in August when it held defending champion Sao Paulo to a 2-2 tie.

In the third-place match Sunday, Mohamed Aboutrika scored two goals as Al Ahly defeated Club America, 2-1, for third place.