Midfielder Neri Cardozo steered 10-man Boca Juniors to a 1-0 victory over Tunisia's Etoile Sahel and a place in the Club World Cup final on Wednesday.

Cardozo scored in 37th minute and the Argentine side held on despite a 65th minute red card for defender Fabian Vargas to seal a place in Sunday's final against AC Milan or Japan's Urawa Reds.

"I don't think Vargas deserved a red card but we have good players to cover for his absence in the final," Boca coach Miguel Angel Russo told reporters.

"We still dominated with 10 players and created a lot of chances. Milan must beat Urawa first but if we face them we will need to improve, particularly in midfield."

Cardozo smashed in the winner left-footed from close range after a clever ball from Rodrigo Palacio.

Etoile were given a let-off just after the interval when former Liverpool defender Gabriel Paletta headed over the bar with goalkeeper Aymen Balbouli caught out of position.

Boca were reduced to 10 men when Colombian Vargas was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Etoile substitute Mahdi Ben Dhifallah.

They could still have added to their lead, with captain Martin Palermo coming close before substitute Alvaro Gonzalez was denied a clear penalty after being clattered from behind.

"We played one of the best games in our history," said Etoile's French coach Bertrand Marchand, whose side had upset Mexico's Pachuca 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

"Boca are one of the world's top sides and we gave them a difficult game. They have the quality to score goals out of nothing -- different class. One bit of magic won the game."

Milan and Urawa meet in the other semi-final on Thursday.

Boca won the Club World Cup's forerunner, a one-off game between the champions of Europe and South America, three times, the last time beating Milan on penalties in 2003.

Brazilian clubs won the first two versions of the new-look FIFA tournament. Sao Paulo beat Liverpool 1-0 in 2005 before Internacional stunned Barcelona by the same score last year.