Barcelona should demonstrate on the pitch that they are superior to their Mexican opponents Club America on Thursday if they are to progress to the FIFA Club World Cup final, according to players. "We are better but we have to show that. We cannot afford to relax," striker Santiago Ezquerro was quoted as saying by Barcelona's official website on Wednesday. "We have to do things as well as we have until now and continue making history." Barca search for their first international title as they start their Club World Cup campaign in the semis against Club America. The winners will play South American champions Internacional, who edged 2-1 past Ahli in the other semi-finals tie on Wednesday. Right-back Juliano Belletti echoed similar sentiments despite the fact that Club America have an advantage of spending more days in Japan and getting used to the different weather and time zone.
"We just need to worry about ourselves and that the way we know we can win," the Brazilian defender said. The Spanish and European champions are suffering from jetlag which could prove an obstacle to their hopes of clinching the prestigious title. "I'm not sleeping much. And pills don't work with me," Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho said. "I tried to get some daytime sleep today, but if I can sleep tonight I will be feeling much better tomorrow." Both sides have met in a pre-season friendly that ended in a thrilling 4-4 draw but manager Frank Rijkaard doesn't see much similarity between the two games. "They are very different to when we played them in the summer, but they deserved to beat the Koreans," the Dutchman said. "It was always going to be hard to play open and attractive football in that game. It was not a great match in terms of quality, but America have qualified. Now we have to play them." Coach Rijkaard chases glory as Barca gear up for redemption
