Wahda opened the Club World Cup with Brazilians Hugo and Fernando Baiano scoring in a 3-0 victory over Oceania champion Hekari United Wednesday. Hugo and Baiano, two of UAE champion Al-Wahda's three Brazilians, scored in the last five minutes of the first half to virtually put the match beyond Hekari, a team founded in Papua New Guinea only seven years ago. Fears that the home team might fail to progress from the opening match as Al-Ahli did last year when it lost to Auckland City, disappointing the organizers and FIFA, were dispelled after a nervous opening half hour. “The pressure on the team was great, I could feel it from outside, some of our players couldn't cope with it,” Al-Wahda's Austrian coach Josef Hickersberger told the post-match news conference. “Hekari United started well with long balls and they are good in the air. We started to play the same way, which is not our style,” he added. “Fortunately, we have experienced players..” Hekari's coach Tommy Mana, who is from the Solomon Islands like several of his players, said: “For any team to beat Al-Wahda they will have to work very hard.” Al-Wahda facez Asian champion Seongnam of South Korea in their quarterfinal Saturday. Concacaf champion Pachuca of Mexico meet Africa's TP Mazembe of DR Congo in the first quarterfinal Friday. Brazil's Internacional, the South American champion, and Europe's Inter Milan have byes into the semifinals. There is no match on Thursday.
