Auckland City FC: `We're the underdog of underdogs of underdogs' in Club World Cup

Miami Herald

12 hours ago

Looking for an underdog team to root for during the Club World Cup? Look no further than Auckland City FC, a New Zealand semi-pro team whose roster includes a schoolteacher, real estate agent, forklift driver, soft drink salesman, and roof cleaner.
They took monthlong leaves from their day jobs to participate in the tournament and they play their opening match Sunday at noon against German giant Bayern Munich at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.
Bayern is expected to sit some of its starters, as several will have just arrived in the United States from national team duty in the past few days.
'For us, it's an adventure,' Auckland's general manager Gordon Watson said during a pre-tournament visit to Miami. 'We're normal people doing a very extraordinary thing at an event that's going to be epic.'
Watson feels the New Zealand club will resonate with middle America, and particularly in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where Auckland City chose to have its home base camp during the tournament.
'We're the underdog of underdogs of underdogs,' he said. 'We've got players on our team who are real estate agents, they sell soft drinks, we have schoolteachers, all these types of vocations. They make a lot of sacrifices to play three games a week for months on end.'
The club plans to use much of the prize money it earns to help fund a community initiative with the Mount Roskill Intermediate School. The mission is to build state-of-the-art sports facilities for the community with the aim of developing young players on and off the field.
'The most important thing for our football club is to be sustainable in the long term, so being part of a competition like this can only help raise awareness of what it is that we do and what we stand for in our community,' Watson said.
'Hopefully, one day we can establish an all-weather playing surface, which for our club is a very ambitious project. Compared to the other 31 clubs here, this sounds like a very small, small project, but not for us.'
This is Auckland's 12th Club World Cup appearance. The team qualified as the top Oceania Champions League winners over a four-year ranking and is the only Club World Cup team that is not a full-time professional team.
They landed in a difficult Club World Cup group and will be heavy underdogs against Bayern Munich, Portugal's Benfica, and Argentina's Boca Juniors.
'It's something that's been on our minds since the start of the year,' forward Harris Zeb said about facing Bayern. 'We're counting down the days now. Playing against guys like Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala – that's the dream. As a kid, these are the players you watch. Now we're preparing to face them.'
Forward Ryan De Vries added: 'Bayern Munich is a massive team, we've seen them in Champions League, seen them dominate their league, so to play our first game against them is something special. We've got to enjoy every minute because it comes along once in a lifetime.'
As for their team's expectation, DeVries said, 'Look, football is a funny game. Football gives you so many opportunities to achieve a lot of things that, maybe, you think as a team or as a player you couldn't. So, it's really about what we do with the situation. I mean, it's already a massive opportunity for us, we get to represent our country and our region. So, I mean, the world is our oyster, really.'
All the Auckland players have 9-to-5 jobs, train four nights a week and play matches on weekends.
'It's a big challenge for a lot of us,' De Vries said. 'Some of the boys have kids, so you don't get to see your kids as often, because you see them in the morning, and then you get home 9:30 or 10, and then you've got to do it all over again. But, it's a sacrifice that we make as players. We're grateful and honored to be a part of this Club World Cup. And, yes, being the only amateur team is difficult, but it's also a ride that we're used to, and we'll enjoy every step of it.'