Warehouse worker looking to down Lionel Messi and Harry Kane in Club World Cup

Daily Mirror

a day ago

The Club World Cup will see football giants such as Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich competing to win the competition with an amateur side looking to make their name
While for many the Club World Cup can be seen as the latest pressure on elite footballers in a bloated calendar of fixtures, for Conor Tracey it is a period he needs to take time off work. The warehouse operative isn't a superfan looking to catch every minute however, but a player in the tournament.
Tracey is goalkeeper for Auckland City FC, champions of the Oceania confederation and the only non-professional team competing in the United States. And it's not like they don't play much; a top-flight restructure in New Zealand saw the number of fixtures almost doubled from less than 30 to more than 50.
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"I personally don't have too much of an opinion about it … for us, getting to play against Bayern Munich, Benfica and Boca Juniors — there's no way we're gonna start complaining," Tracey told ABC Sport.
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The 28-year-old will be tasked with stopping the likes of Harry Kane from scoring and despite his team holding the record for the most appearances in the Club World Cup's previous iteration, their status as underdogs is obvious. Even then a squad of office workers and sales reps usually lasted a single game against the hosts.
In a tournament that will feature the likes of Lionel Messi and his stunning £15,744,191 salary, Auckland City's stars can only muster $150-a-week (£70) in expenses. "And I'm spending all of that on petrol," adds Tracey.
But, despite the club's amateur status, there are still four training sessions each week in addition to physio appointments and a nutrition regime. Though, the scale of their sacrifice and who they are about to play is not always recognised closer to home.
"I don't think they fully realise … New Zealand's not, you know, football central," Tracey said. "I think they try their best to understand, which is nice. If I have a genuine conversation with them about it, they will say 'that is actually really cool'.
"But 80 per cent of the time it's banter and 80 per cent of that banter is just, 'Oh yeah, off on holiday again!'"
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The New Zealand side's Club World Cup outings in the past have seen them tackle grand stages, and perhaps prepare them somewhat for what lies in wait in the United States. Tracey played in front of 20,000 people when City went down 1-0 to Emirati club Al-Jazira in 2017, but will hope to experience a similar atmosphere once again.
"As a 19-year-old kid that's used to playing in front of 50 people and 20 dogs, I just went, 'Holy shit, look at all these people,'" he said. "It was stained on my mind."
It's such moments that help inspire the hardwork require to train at such a level while maintaining a physical job. "Sometimes it's really hard to sort of remind yourself why you're doing it, because it is a slog," he added. "It does take a big mental toll."
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