Bragging rights on the line in showdown

TOYOTA, Japan - Asian bragging rights will be at stake when Korean side Ulsan Hyundai faces Japan’s Sanfrecce Hiroshima in a potentially feisty Club World Cup clash tomorrow.

The prize for the winners of the match between AFC Champions League holders Ulsan and the J-League winners in Toyota will be fifth place at the intercontinental tournament after their quarter-final defeats on Sunday.

“There’s a big rivalry here and we want to show that Japan’s football is better than Korea’s,” Hiroshima winger Mihael Mikic said.

“We play good football and they play physical, even a little dirty,” the former Croatia youth international said, adding some spice to the build-up to the game.

The match comes after tensions surfaced between the national teams of the two countries, giants of Asian football, at the London Olympics.

Last week FIFA suspended Korean’s Park Jong-Woo for two international matches over a post-match political gesture at the Games.

Park, who was also fined, had been excluded from the awards ceremony for his country’s bronze medal win in August after he held up a sign reading “Dokdo is our land” while celebrating the Korean team’s 2-0 victory over Japan.

AFP