Hull City are through to the final of the 2009 Barclays Asia Trophy after defeating Beijing Guoan 5-4 on penalties at the Worker's Stadim in Beijing.
The Tigers had earlier been held to a 1-1 draw by the local side with Geovanni's opener being cancelled out early in the second half. Phil Brown's side will now face Tottenham Hotspur in Friday's final.
Although Beijing Guoan had the better of the opening few minutes, which included a Yang Hao header that went just over Matt Duke's crossbar, the Tigers soon got into their stride.
Bringing back memories of last season, it was Geovanni who opened the scoring in the ninth minute with City's first attempt on goal. Picking up possession in space, the Brazilian advanced before firing an unstoppable swerving shot into the net from 20 yards.
The same player could have had a second four minutes later when his run took him into the box. But he chose to shoot when perhaps a pass to either Caleb Folan or Peter Halmosi to his right would have been the better option and the ball ended up in the side-netting.
Some nervous defending from the home side was providing City with plenty of opportunities to press forward and when Dean Marney found Peter Halmosi in the box, the Hungarian's cross-shot was hammered away for a corner with Geovanni being denied what would have been a tap-in.
With a passionate crowd behind them, Guoan were never going to treat the game as 'just' a friendly, a point proved when Lu Jiang was booked for a crude tackle on Halmosi.
However, that was a challenge that sparked the men in green back to life. Yan Xiangchuang, a constant threat on the right, volleyed a decent opportunity over the bar while Emil Martinez saw his free kick pushed around the post by Duke.
Darko Matic was then booked as the strong challenges continued to come in from both sides before the half time whistle.
Half Time: Tigers 1-0 Beijing Guoan
Guoan dominated the opening exchanges of the second half and equalised on 48 minutes. City failed to deal with a corner and when the ball came over, Paul was on hand to finish low into the net.
Duke was forced to beat away a shot from Zhou Ting and with City looking less than comfortable at the back, efforts from Sui Dongliang and Ryan Griffiths went narrowly off target.
City's first threat of the second half came when Bernard Mendy attacked from right back. His low cross was met by Geovanni, but the home goalkeeper did well to push the shot wide.
Mendy was then booked for a high challenge on Martinez before a host of changes brought a change in personnel for Phil Brown's side.
It didn't change the pattern of play, though, and Guoan went close to a winner ten minutes from time when substitute Yang Pu hit the post from close range after a low cross had been allowed to travel through City's six-yard box.
Guoan went close again with three minutes to play, Duke doing well to tip Tao Wei's swerving free kick over the bar.
Penalty Shoot-Out
Hull City took the first penalty.
Devitt scores, Wei scores (1-1)
Dawson scores, Ting scores (2-2)
Cousin scores, Bowen scores (3-3)
Marney penalty saved, Dongliang misses (3-3)
Hughes scores, Hui scores (4-4)
Sudden Death
Folan scores, Xinxin misses (5-4)
Hull City won 5-4 on penalties.
Tigers: Matt Duke, Bernard Mendy (Devitt 77), Michael Turner, Anthony Gardner, Kevin Kilbane, Nick Barmby (Hughes 63), Dean Marney, George Boateng (Dawson 77), Peter Halmosi (Zayatte 63), Geovanni (Cousin 63), Caleb Folan.
Subs Not Used: Tony Warner, Liam Cooper, Nicky Featherstone, Nathan Doyle, Tom Cairney.
Beijing Guoan: Yang Zhi, Paul, Zhang Yunhai, Zhou Ting, Darko Matic, Lu Jiang, Yang Hao, Emil Martinez, Joel Griffiths, Ryan Griffiths, Yan Xiangchuang.
Subs: Zhang Sipeng, Lang Zheng, Sui Dongliang, Yang Pu, Tao Wei, Huang Bowen, Zhang Xinxin, Zhu Yifan, Guo Hui.
Referee: Mr T. Hai.
