Messi, Neymar aim to return for Club World Cup final

YOKOHAMA: Lionel Messi and Neymar are hoping to return for Barcelona in the Club World Cup final on Sunday after taking part in Saturday's training session.

Messi missed Thursday's semifinal against Guangzhou Evergrande with what the team said was renal colic, a type of abdominal pain commonly attributed to kidney stones.

Manager Luis Enrique refused to elaborate on Messi's condition during a news conference on Saturday.

Neymar, who sustained a groin injury last week, had skipped training on Monday and Tuesday, and did some light running on Wednesday before sitting on the bench for the semifinal.

Both trained vigorously on Saturday ahead of the showdown with River Plate of Argentina.

Barcelona is bidding for its third Club World Cup title, after victories in 2009 and 2011.