Sebastian Giovinco has made a career of stepping up on the biggest stages and the former Toronto FC standout will have another chance Tuesday when his Al-Hilal FC squad meets South American champion Flamengo in the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar.
Giovinco was an unused sub for Al-Hilal in a 1-0 victory over Tunisian side Esperance de Tunis Saturday in Doha. Bafetimbi Gomis came off the bench to score the 73rd-minute winner for Al-Hilal, which finished the match with 10 men after Mohamed Kanno was sent off for his second bookable offense five minutes from full time.
Concacaf Champions League winner Monterrey also advanced to the semifinals where they meet Liverpool after defeating Al-Sadd SC, 3-2, Saturday. Goals by Leonel Vangioni and Rogelio Funes Mori gave Rayados a two-goal halftime lead.
Baghdad Bounedjah pulled Al Zaeem to within a goal in the 66th minute with a headed finish from 12 yards out before Carlos Rodriguez regained the two-goal lead 11 minutes later.
Abdelkarim Hassan struck for a cosmetic goal in the 89th minute for Al-Sadd, which meets Esperance de Tunis in the fifth place game Tuesday.
