Spanish giants to face River

FC Barcelona’s Luis Suarez (right), and Guangzhou Evergrande FC’s Zhang Linpeng battle for the ball during their semifinal match at the FIFA Club World Cup

soccer tournament in Yokohama, near Tokyo on Dec 17. (AP) YOKOHAMA, Japan, Dec 17, (AFP): Luis Suarez fired a hattrick as Barcelona overcame the loss of Lionel Messi to kidney trouble by beating China’s Guangzhou Evergrande 3-0 on Thursday to reach the Club World Cup final.

The Spanish giants will face Argentine side River Plate in Yokohama on Sunday as they look to become the first team to win the competition three times.

“Luis Suarez is deadly inside the box, he will always score for you,” Barca coach Luis Enrique told reporters. “He’s a spectacular player.”

The European champions were rocked before the semi-final when Messi was sidelined with renal colic -- commonly caused by kidney stones -- which could also rule him out of the final.

Initially Barca missed Messi’s wizardry and the guile of his Brazilian strike partner Neymar, who was rested as he recovers from a groin strain.

“We don’t know if we’ll have Messi and Neymar for the final,” Enrique said when quizzed about his two superstars.

But Messi refused to rule himself out, posting on his Facebook page: “Great job from the whole team, we’re in the final!

FC Barcelona’s Munir El Haddadi and Guangzhou Evergrande FC’s Zou Zheng (right), contest for the ball during their semifinal match at the FIFA Club World Cup soccer tournament in Yokohama, near Tokyo on

Dec 17. (AP)

It’s never fun to miss any game, but I hope to get better to be able to help in the final.”

The Catalans toiled to break down Evergrande’s massed ranks of defenders, until Suarez pounced six minutes before half-time, poking in a loose ball after goalkeeper Li Shuai parried Ivan Rakitic’s fierce drive from the edge of the box.

The Uruguayan grabbed his second five minutes after the break when he latched onto a superb Andres Iniesta pass, bringing the ball down on his chest before volleying past Li to the delight of most in the crowd of 63,000.