Monterrey booked a spot in the knockout rounds of the Club World Cup with a thumping 4-0 win over Urawa Red Diamonds at the Rose Bowl on Wednesday to claim second place in Group E and set up a last 16 meeting with Borussia Dortmund.
Three goals in eight first-half minutes sent Monterrey on their way to victory, with stunning long-range strikes from Nelson Deossa and Jesús Corona coming either side of German Berterame’s cool finish.
Deossa put Monterrey in front on the half-hour mark with a swerving shot from 35 yards and Berterame doubled the advantage four minutes later.
Corona added the third with the pick of the goals from distance in the 38th minute before Berterame added the fourth in second-half stoppage time.
The win, coupled with Inter Milan’s 2-0 victory over River Plate, means Monterrey finish second and will take on Dortmund in Atlanta on Tuesday.
“I’m really very happy we’re in the next stage,” said Monterrey coach Domenec Torrent. “On Saturday the club is celebrating 80 years so it’s a very special moment.
“We’re very happy because we have a clean sheet, it’s not easy in this group especially with the group that we had.”
Urawa, who were already eliminated after losing their opening two games, should have gone ahead midway through the first half when Ryoma Watanabe slid a pass through to Yusuke Matsuo but his poor first touch gave Ricardo Chavez enough time to block the goal-bound strike.
Monterrey’s opener came on the half-hour mark when central midfielder Deossa found space to hit a thunderous, swerving left-foot strike from midway inside the Urawa half that left goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa flapping.
Monterrey’s second came four minutes later as José Alvarado slipped a pass into Berterame, who bent a low shot into the bottom corner of the Urawa goal.
Worse was to come for the former Asian champions as Monterrey struck again from distance, Corona smashing his attempt from 30 yards out beyond Nishikawa’s dive.
Nishikawa prevented Monterrey from adding to the mauling early in the second half when he blocked Chavez’s effort, and Berterame missed out on his second when he pulled his shot wide in the 52nd minute.
Watanabe put a late free kick over the bar as the Japanese side looked for a consolation goal but Berterame slid in to stab the ball over from close range in the 97th minute to seal an emphatic Monterrey win.