Also nestling into a spot in the history books is Croatian-born midfielder Daniel Koprivcic who will become the only player to appear in five separate Club World Cups if he takes to the field against J. League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima on December 6.
Koprivcic went to Japan twice with his former club Waitakere United in 2007 and 2008, before joining Auckland City and attending a further two tournaments in 2009 and 2011.
As a seasoned Club World Cup attendee, the 31-year-old knows all about the pressures of coming up against some of the football world’s biggest names.
“It’s never going to be easy as an amateur team playing professionals,” he says.
“We try to train as much as possible but it is difficult when you don’t compete all year round. Every day they are training or playing at the highest level.
“For us, we train four or five times a week in the couple of months leading up to the event, but it’s nothing in comparison.”
However while he admits that the gap between Oceania’s amateurs and Europe or South America’s professionals exists, it is not as wide as some may believe with Auckland City having already proven that in 2009 with their fifth placing – the best ever finish for an Oceania team.
“Fitness-wise, they’re definitely at a higher level and that makes it a faster game,” he says.
“We don’t have as much time on the ball as we might have at home and once the game starts you can see the difference, but it’s not a big step – we can compete.
“We are the underdogs so it will be really hard to beat the winners of the J.League,” he says.
“We are training hard, we believe in each other and we believe we can give them a good game on the day. Football is a strange game, anything can happen. Even the underdogs can win on the day.
“Our goal is to try our hardest, play tactically well, be fit and take our chances – we won’t get many so each one we do get we will have to take.”
On a personal level, Koprivcic says his goal is to stay fit and not pick up any injuries in order to make his fifth appearance.
“The feelings are the same for each one. I’m always glad to go, but also want to achieve something there. It will be tough, we expect a hard game, but hopefully we will go one step further.”

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