Evergrande's success awakens a sleeping giant

Guangzhou Evergrande has raised China's hunger for soccer glory despite a lopsided loss to Bayern Munich that followed the Asian champion's victory over the African winner in its Club World Cup debut.

"This tournament is very important, very prestigious. It is not easy to qualify for it nor to win it," said Pep Guardiola, whose side beat Evergrande 3-0 in the semifinals on Tuesday night.

Against the five-time UEFA champion and 22-time Bundesliga winner, Evergrande wasn't expected to pull off a shock result. However, the team's Italian head coach, Marcello Lippi, somewhat raised expectations before the match by claiming: "We are going to play against one of the best teams in the world. When you take on a team like this, out of 100 matches you lose 99 but you can win one and I hope that will be the next one. You never know."