City's success caps year of highs for NZ

By Terry Maddaford

4:00 AM Saturday Dec 19, 2009

Auckland City have thrown Fifa a curve ball with their outstanding fifth placing at the Club World Cup (CWC).

In four appearances at the tournament, the Oceania champion - two outings each for City and Waitakere United - has been treated like the unwanted wedding guest and given a table outside in the hope they will quickly go away and let the real show go on.

But now Fifa might have to reconsider. In beating African champions TP Mazembe - a team representing the best clubs from 53 nations on the continent - City have effectively pushed Africa to the bottom while pressing their claim for the gilt-edged invitation next time.

Whether Fifa will now accept that and place the African team in the "pre-tournament proper" game (against the host club) and hand Oceania a place in the top five, and, on this year's prizemoney carve-up, a guaranteed $1.4 million as an automatic quarter-finalist remains to be seen.

There is no doubt in what has already been a good year for New Zealand and Oceania soccer that City's effort has been the icing on a big cake.

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Those who doubted the value of the New Zealand Football Championship as preparation for the CWC must now concede that, with a little fine-tuning, the local competition can in fact give a worthy build-up.

After his team's first-up win over local club Al Ahli, Auckland City chairman Ivan Vuksich said the timing of the NZFC and O-League games had been a key factor in his team's success in the UAE.

Few could argue with that.

New Zealand Football will early next week come out with their blueprint for the future. There will not be radical changes but rather some fine-tuning to ensure the "product" serves the needs of the clubs and the game as a whole.

In not finding their O-League winner until May, Oceania gives that club an ideal run-in to the Club Championship. They at least get to go to the big show in the same year they win, unlike some confederations who find their representatives a year, or more, out from the CWC.

Success at this level does not come cheap.

City left these shores with a considerable overdraft, but it was money well spent as the club gave their players the best possible preparation. And got a return probably beyond their wildest dreams. Sponsorship money, always difficult to secure, has all but disappeared. The days of knocking on a door and being handed a $50,000 cheque have long gone, replaced now by many closer to $5000 or even $2000. Clubs need plenty of those just to find the $65,000 NZFC entry fee.

Vuksich is adamant the more successful clubs - City, Waitakere and Hawkes Bay as examples - have the advantage of having the infrastructure of a winter club to back them - finding the right people for the key roles paramount.

City's efforts this year and Waitakere's bold showing against Adelaide United a year earlier have given the game here credibility.

Fifth place is, realistically, the best they can aim for in the amateur versus professional scenario. That, surely, must satisfy Fifa and their on-going claim that theirs is the global game.

Carving up the US$1.5 million ($2.11 million) headed this way has been carefully documented, with Auckland as a club and their players, New Zealand Football, the Oceania Confederation and the remaining seven NZFC clubs all set to benefit.

New Zealand Football chairman Frank van Hattum is adamant every dollar his association receives will be spent wisely. It is hoped the other beneficiaries take the same approach and the game as a whole in this region prospers.

The All Whites' success in claiming their spot at next year's World Cup further backs such claims.

With soccer and hockey riding the highs of a truly memorable year, sports seen as outside the mainstream have taken, or at least shared, theglory.

City have thrown down the gauntlet and shown that playing in a domestic competition offering no prize money might not, after all, be a bad thing.

They have shown that meticulous planning and having the right people in the right jobs, from the coaching staff up and down, can lead to unexpected success and give the soccer public even more to savour.

We can only hope Fifa sees it the same way and ticks the appropriate boxes.

CITY'S GREAT RUN

O-LEAGUE

November 2 2008:
Auckland City 2 Waitakere United 2
December 13 2008:
Port Vila Sharks 0 Auckland City 2
February 14 2009:
Auckland City 8 Port Vila Sharks 1
April 5 2009:
Waitakere United 1 Auckland City 3
FINAL – April 25 2009:
Koloale FC 2 Auckland City 7 (1st leg)
May 3 2009: Auckland City 2 Koloale 2
(2nd leg, City win 9-4 on aggregate)
FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP, Abu Dhabi
December 10:
Auckland City 2 Al Ahli (UAE) 0
December 13:
Atlante FC (Mexico) 3 Auckland City 0
December 17: Play-off 5th/6th,
Auckland City 3 TP Mazembe (Congo) 2