South American champions "quivering" ahead of last Intercontinental Cup

Once Caldas goalkeeper Juan Carlos Henao (L) and captain Samuel Vanegas attend a press conference in Tokyo.

South American champions Once Caldas of Colombia arrived "quivering with excitement" ahead of the final Intercontinental Cup this weekend.

The Colombians face off against European champions Porto on Sunday for the Cup's last edition with 12 victories each for European and South American clubs since it moved to Japan in 1980.

"It's been our dream to win the Intercontinental Cup. I want to break the 12-12 deadlock and make it 13-12 for South America. I am quivering with excitement," skipper Samuel Vanegas said Wednesday.

"We are not going to let Porto win easily. We can run and move quickly. We are going to confuse their formation."

The traditional show-down will be replaced next year by the FIFA Club World Championship featuring the top clubs from each continent.

Goalkeeper Juan Carlos Henao, a hero of Once Caldas' Libertadores Cup final victory over Boca Juniors, said he felt great responsibility to win the last Intercontinental Cup for South America.

"I cannot express my feeling in a few words about 12 wins against 12 defeats, but I feel heavy responsibility," said goalkeeper Juan Carlos Henao.

"We've already gained great honour by winning the Libertadores Cup to become the South American champions, and this is the last competition between the South American and European champions. I really want to bring the last Cup to South America."

Head coach Luis Fernando Montoya promised his players would be relaxed and well prepared for Sunday's match.

"Even if you don't have much money or enough budget, you can achieve an excellent goal. We want to prove it," said Montoya.

Once Caldas, who pulled off upset victories over favourites Santos, Sao Paulo and defending champions Boca Juniors to win the Libertadores Cup, are appearing in their first Intercontinental Cup.

They have been training at the J-Village in Fukushima since arriving in Japan on Friday.

Porto, who reached the second round of the European Champions League with a 2-1 victory over English Premier League leaders Chelsea on Tuesday, were due to arrive on Thursday evening.

It will be the Portuguese club's second appearance since beating Penarol of Uruguay 2-1 in 1987.