Pre-season training is in full swing for Oceania’s number one club side Auckland City FC as they prepare for the upcoming New Zealand Football Championship, O-League Championship and FIFA Club World Cup.
With just 100 days to go, and tickets now on sale for Auckland’s match against Al Ahli FCD, the team is determined to make their mark at the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup in just over three months in Abu Dhabi.
Auckland’s game against the local Middle Eastern qualifier is the first of the Championship on 9 December and it represents a very real chance for a New Zealand club team to get its first win at a FIFA Club World Cup.
The 2008-09 New Zealand Football Championship winners will be looking to salve memories of their previous campaign at the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup when they lost to Egyptian club Al Ahly 0-2 and then South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 0-3 in the fifth place play-off.
Widely traveled professional and Auckland City Captain, Ivan Vicelich, says his teammates are already pushing themselves to the limit in training.
“Our training is starting to get pretty tough now – we’re really just focusing on getting fit for the season and bringing the whole team up to the same level of fitness. It’s a pretty intense training schedule” says Vicelich.
Auckland City FC are set to depart for the Middle East on 30 November, where they will hold a training camp and aim to play at least one friendly game as part of their build-up to the FIFA Club World Cup.
“It’s a great honour for us to be playing in a high-class international tournament like the Club World Cup and a real credit to the team, along with our coaching and support staff. We’re really looking forward to facing some world-class competition,” says Vicelich.
The recently retired New Zealand national team veteran also issued a rallying call to all of the UAE’s sizeable expatriate New Zealand population.
“We also understand that there are around 4,000 expat-Kiwis based in the UAE. It will be a rare chance for them to support one of their own football teams so hopefully they will really get behind us.”
Auckland City FC are the defending Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) O-League champions after defeating the Solomon Island’s Koloale FC in the 2008-2009 home and away grand final (9-4 on aggregate).