CONCACAF representative Club de Futbol Monterrey lost to Kashiwa Reysol of Japan in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup. The defeat means the Mexican side will play for fifth place and out of CWC championship contention.

The Mexicans were on the attack in the early going against the Japanese champions, creating scoring chances and even hitting the upright inside the opening 15 minutes. However, Kashiwa slowly inched back into the match and at the 53rd minute the J.League team was up 1-0 thanks to Brazilian Leandro Domingues.

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At the hour mark, Humberto Suazo leveled the score for the CONCACAF side at 1-1 from a Cesar Delgado pass. The teams exchanged chances for the next half hour of regulation time, before playing out 30 more minutes of extra time ahead of penalties, where Kashiwa prevailed 4-3.

Monterrey will now play African representative Esperance Sportive de Tunis on Wednesday in Japan before returning to Mexico. Kashiwa moves on to face South American (Copa Libertadores) champion Santos of Brazil. Meanwhile, European champion Barcelona will join the tournament at the semifinal stage, playing Al-Sadd Sports Club of Qatar.

Monterrey became the CONCACAF representative at CWC after beating Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake in the 2010/11 Champions League Final. They still have a chance to return to the Club World Cup next year as Los Rayados have qualified for the quarterfinals of the 2011/12 CONCACAF Champions League. Monterrey faces fellow Mexicans Morelia in March.

In that same tournament Toronto FC takes on Los Angeles Galaxy (March 7 & 14) on the other side of the bracket. Toronto and Monterrey could not meet until the Champions League Final should both teams advance through the championship rounds.

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