The 90 minutes ended with the score at 1-1, with Sam Allardyce’s men winning the penalty shoot-out 5-4 to earn the right to play Thailand on Saturday. City will play Everton earlier on the same day.
City had taken the lead before half-time with a well taken Joey Barton goal finishing off some good work by Trevor Sinclair and Bradley Wright Phillips.
Despite conceding an equaliser just after the break, the manager has taken several positives from a match played out in gruelling conditions.
“It was a good physical workout, and the main thing is that we’re injury free,” he explained aftewards. “It was a decent performance, and I thought that Bradley coped really well.
“We saw Mikkel Bischoff out on the pitch for the first time in a long time, and he coped well. Trevor Sinclair also put in a really good effort.”
Wright-Phillips played on his own up front for the entire game in the energy-sapping heat and humidity, and he went close in the first half when his shot from close range was parried by Jaaskelainen.
His efforts did not get the rewards he deserved, however, as he missed the crucial fifth penalty of the shoot out. The manager was keen to praise the youngster, and admitted that he knows all about the cruelty of this method of deciding matches.
“There’s no problem with Bradley, and I’m hardly in a position to criticise anyone when it comes to penalties!”
Pearce also was especially pleased at how the several inexperienced players who appeared coped with performing in a big venue and in very un-English conditions.
“It was very, very warm out there. To be honest the 60 minutes that some of the lads played was the equivalent of a full 90 minute match.
“Lads like D’Laryea, Richards and Bradley have never played in a stadium this size and in these conditions before, so it was a big step up.”
