The competition was organised with the goal of consolidating strong relationships with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) while also providing three Oceania teams with preparatory matches ahead of FIFA world events and regional competitions.
The involvement of UNICEF was another chief success with the Celebration of Children’s Right to Play and the rolling out of OFC’s Just Play programme involving 600 school children from across Auckland.
“This competition was always about celebrating the culture and commonality of the AFC, CONCACAF and the OFC and putting on the best event we could for three of our Oceania teams preparing for international competition,” Chung says, “And I think we’ve achieved our objectives on all these fronts.”
The support from CONCACAF President Jeffrey Webb was an important ingredient according to Chung.
And Webb – whose home member association sent champion club Bodden Town to New Zealand – described it as an important milestone in the relationship between CONCACAF and OFC.
“The participation of CONCACAF in the OFC President’s Cup truly demonstrates the unifying power of football.
“This 2014 President’s Cup marks a milestone, as a CONCACAF team competes with top teams from Asia and Oceania for the first time in history.
I would like to acknowledge OFC President, Mr. David Chung, and his team for their vision and successful execution of this tournament, and convey my best wishes to all teams,” Webb says.
AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa supported the views of his fellow confederation presidents hailing the OFC President’s Cup a success.
“The OFC President’s Cup is yet another exhibition of football as the global game.
“The successful staging of the tournament has truly solidified the strong relationship that is already in existence between Asia, Oceania and CONCACAF, and for that my respect and sincerest appreciation to the OFC President, Mr David Chung and his team for this accomplishment.
“I hope that the success of this tournament would bring about similar initiatives in years to come,” he says.
Amicale shone brightly in their final group game after they registered a come-from-behind 2-1 win over former Bahraini Premier League champions Busaiteen.
It was the first time an Oceania club side other than from Australia or New Zealand had achieved such a victory.
Arguably, it was Vanuatu club football’s greatest ever result and the nation’s best since the famous 4-2 win over the All Whites at the OFC Nations Cup in Adelaide in 2004.
For Fiji U-20, coach Ravinesh Kumar saw his youngsters gain exposure to a professional club side from another part of the world and take on Amicale – OFC’s second top ranked club.
While winning results were hard to come by, the intensity of competition would be money in the bank for high pressure challenges yet to come at next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.
Auckland City FC’s preparations for the FIFA Club World Cup were sharpened as they won all three matches scoring 15 goals and conceding just one en route to lifting the title.
“I’m happy that there will be a legacy from the OFC President’s Cup – three positive performances from three Oceania teams on the regional and world stage.
“We know football is a tough sell in New Zealand given its feelings for rugby union, but we will make sure that the second edition of this tournament is bigger,” Chung says.
Auckland City FC are the first of the three Oceania sides to compete on the world stage when they take on Uzbekistan in a friendly on December 4 in Dubai, UAE.
They meet Moghreb Tétouan in the FIFA Club World Cup playoff on December 10 in Rabat, Morocco.
Fiji U-20 will learn their FIFA U-20 World Cup fate when the official draw takes place in Auckland in February next year.
The OFC Champions League takes place in Fiji next April with the draw scheduled for early March.