Barcelona's Luis Suarez (L) kicks the ball to score against Guangzhou Evergrande during their Club World Cup semifinal soccer match in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan, December 17, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

YOKOHAMA, Japan - Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick in Barcelona's 3-0 victory over China's Guangzhou Evergrande at the Club World Cup semifinals on Thursday.

Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao coach Luiz Felipe Scolari feels his side should be proud of their performance against Barcelona irrespective of their 3-0 defeat, stressing they still did better than Real Madrid last month.

Barca cruised past their fierce rivals in the Clasico on Nov 21 with a 4-0 victory, inspired by a double from Uruguay international Luis Suarez.

He was in fine form again in Japan as he opened the scoring in the opening 45 minutes, before netting two more, with the last one from penalty, after the break to complete his hat-trick and send the Catalans through to the final of the Club World Cup.