Soccer-Al Ahly cruise to 3-0 win over Auckland City at Club World Cup

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(Reuters) – Hussein El Shahat, Mohamed Sherif and Percy Tau all scored as Egyptian side Al Ahly cruised to a 3-0 win over Auckland City at the Club World Cup in Morocco on Wednesday to set up a second-round tie against Seattle Sounders.

Ahly, who won the bronze medal in the previous two editions, dominated the competition at the Ibn Batouta stadium in Tangier and is now looking forward to a much more grueling outing against Major League Soccer opposition at the same venue on Saturday.

The Cairo club had to wait out first-half added time for their opener against the Oceania champions, which came when El Shahat cut inside the left wing and unleashed a 30-yard low drive that beat goaltender Conor Tracey.

It was 2-0 in the 56th minute after Sherif beat the offside trap and slipped the ball past Tracey to end the game as a contest with Auckland unable to muster much in terms of attacking threat.

South African international Tau added a late third with a simple finish after a brilliant back heel assist from Kahraba.

The winner of the match between Ahly and Sounders will face Real Madrid in the semi-finals.

Local favorites and African champions Wydad Casablanca will face Saudis Al-Hilal in the second round on Saturday. The winner of this match will meet the Brazilian team Flamengo in the semi-finals.

(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Toby Davis)