Gamba beat Adelaide in Club World Cup quarter final

Asian champions Gamba Osaka beat back a strong challenge from Adelaide United of Australia on Sunday to win 1-0 in their quarter-final of the Club World Cup.

Yasuhito Endo, the most valuable player of the AFC Champions League tournament, scored the only goal of the game in the 23rd minute to secure the win for Gamba.

The hard-fought victory granted Gamba the right to face European champions Manchester United in the semi-final on Thursday in Yokohama.

Midfielder Takahiro Futagawa fed the ball from behind to striker Ryuji Bando, who headed it inside the box to a charging Endo, who punched it into the net.

The more than 38,000 fans had hoped for an easier win for the Japanese side, but Gamba's other attacks failed to find the net.

Gamba easily beat Adelaide twice last month to win the two-leg Champions League final 5-0 on aggregate, their first regional title.

But Adelaide battled throughout the match on Sunday, launching waves of attacks on the Gamba defence, particularly toward the end of the game. The ball narrowly missed the net several times.

In the 13th minute, skipper Travis Dodd charged forward on his own from the middle of the pitch, passed Gamba's defenders and fired off a powerful shot that went just wide.

In the 42nd minute, another Dodd header came agonisingly close to the net, as he played inside the box on a Scott Jamieson cross. It travelled above Gamba goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya's reach, only to hit the bar.

In injury time, another Dodd header inside the box again threatened Gamba, but just missed the target.

South American champions Liga de Quito of Ecuador are to face Pachuca of Mexico in the other semi-final of the tournament.