Soccer-River scrape into Club World final with nervy win

By Brian Homewood OSAKA, Dec 16 (Reuters) - South American champions River Plate scraped into the Club World Cup final with a nervous 1-0 win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima thanks largely to goalkeeper Marcelo Barovero on Wednesday. Lucas Alario headed the only goal in the second half but it was Barovero who was the real hero as he kept the Argentine side in the game in the first half with a flurry of saves. River, backed by 15,000 fans, who had made the marathon journey from Argentina, will face either European champions Barcelona or Asia's Guangzhou Evergrande, who meet on Thursday, in Sunday's final. Hiroshima, who qualified for the competition thanks to a rule which awards a place to the champions of the host nation, had knocked out Auckland City from Oceania and African champions TP Mazembe in a surprise run. (Reporting by Brian Homewood; Editing by Ken Ferris)