The Spaniard successfully led his side past the Moroccan, African and CONCACAF club champions on their history-making run to third place and while he’s elated it’s taking some time to comprehend.
“I don’t know how to put into words just how elated I am. I think the most unbelievable game for me was the first one. It was win or die and the rest is extra for us,” he says.
“It’s unbelievable, obviously everyone at the club and in New Zealand must be buzzing. Maybe I need to wait for two or three days, or a couple of weeks, before I can appreciate and understand what we have achieved.
“I’m the happiest man in the world because we’ve overcome every hurdle. Half of my players are amateurs but we haven’t lost a single match here. We deserve to finish where we have because we’ve been brilliant from beginning to end.”
In charge of what is now, officially, the third-best club in the world, Tribulietx says that’s not really something he takes into consideration.
“I don’t really look at these things, what I look at is we’ve played four games at the Moroccan Club World Cup and we haven’t lost a game. We lost to San Lorenzo in extra time yes, but after 90 minutes we haven’t lost a single game and that is unbelievable.
“We’ve had a few tricky moments along the way, starting with the first match against Moghreb Tetouan, which was a matter of life or death. After that we just tried to make sure we were up to the job. No one expected us to come third, and it’s a real honour.”
Tribulietx says it’s even more incredulous when you look at the pedigree of the teams Kiwitea Street amateurs have toppled.
“Cruz Azul, one of the most historical football sides in Mexico and a fantastic football side with a lot of experience, San Lorenzo, a fantastic side from South America and even ES Setif, a very historical team from Africa and Tetouan, they’ve won the national league in Morocco twice in the last three years,” he explains.
“So to come up here with a semi-pro team and not lose against anyone, that’s a start for me.”
As for what it will do for the profile of football Down Under, Tribulietx believes Auckland City’s success is only going to help grow the game.
“I think in repect to the kind of club that we are, this is deserved and will help and give some support to the Oceania community and help improve the game in the Confederation.”