The final day of Group B of the Intercontinental Cup on Tuesday ended in dramatic circumstances as Australia and Chile confirmed their tickets to the semi-finals in contrasting style on Friday.  

The Olyroos chalked up a 4-0 win over Togo at the Petaling Jaya Stadium but the match was abandoned after the Africans had only seven players on the pitch with six minutes to go.

At the Kuala Lumpur Stadium in Cheras, the Chileans grabbed the other semi-final slot with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Croatia who were reduced to 10 men after Marin Ljubicic was sent-off in the 53^rd minute.

Australia topped Group B with maximum points, with Chile second with six points. Croatia ended their campaign with three points while Togo finished as wooden spoonists, losing all their matches.

   The Olyroos opened the scoring through Jason Hoffmann in the eighth minute before adding a second through Chesterfield’s Aaron Downes three minutes before the interval.

   Togo’s tactical shape was shattered after Wassiou Salami was red-carded in the 60^th minute, paving the way for Michael Zullo to widen the gap in the 64^th minute before Matt Simon delivered the final nail in Togo’s coffin six minutes later.

    Ten minutes before the end, Yossua Ayao was given his marching orders. With six minutes to go, Togo had only seven players on the pitch and the game was abandoned.

   Over in Cheras, it took a well-worked move between Pablo Gonzalez and substitute Daud Gazale to break the deadlock in the 84^th minute.

   With Croatia struggling to cope with Chile’s high tempo and fleet-footedness, there was going to be only one winner from the match, even if the Latin Americans needed only a draw to advance to the last four.

   The Croatian defence crumbled after Gazale combined with Gonzalez to release the latter who coolly slotted the ball home past keeper Antonijo Jezina.

   Chile coach Eduardo Berizzo was pleased to enter the semi-final after winning the closely-contested affair.

   “It was a difficult match because we found it hard to break down the Croatian defence. It was a close match and we are happy to make the semi-finals,” said the former Olympique Marseille defender.

Croatia coach Drazen Ladic had only praise for his players after having to compete in trying conditions.

“Although we failed to go beyond the group stage, our objective was met because we wanted to expose the players to high-level competitive matches.

“Under the humid conditions, our players who are not used to the weather had to play three matches in six days,” said the former World Cup keeper.