Auckland City faces hosts in Club World Cup

Posted Monday, December 05, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

New Zealand’s Auckland City faces a tough challenge in its opening match of the Club World Cup when the Oceania representative take on newly crowned J-League champions Kashiwa Reysol.

Auckland City and Kashiwa will meet in a playoff Thursday with the winner advancing to take on CONCACAF champion Monterrey of Mexico in Sunday’s quarterfinals.

Auckland qualified in April while Kashiwa will be looking to build on the momentum gained from Saturday’s 3-1 win over Urawa Reds, which allowed the side to claim its first J-League championship.

Kashiwa became the first team in the history of the J-League to win the championship in its first season following promotion, which it secured after winning the second division championship last season.

At the 2009 Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi, Auckland City beat both the host team Al Ahli and the African champions TP Mazembe Englebert, but Auckland coach Ramon Tribulietx knows Thursday’s match will be a bigger challenge.

“Al Ahli won the UAE league months before we played them and, with respect, that is much easier than facing Kashiwa Reysol only days after they win the J-League,” Tribulietx said Monday after a training session.

Auckland City beat Vanuatu’s Amicale 4-0 in the second leg of the 2011 O-League final to earn a 6-1 aggregate win and qualify for the Club World.

This will be the amateur team’s third appearance in the tournament that features seven teams from FIFA’s six continental confederations. Along with its 2009 appearance, it played at the 2006 edition in Japan.

Auckland captain Ivan Vicelich echoed the sentiments of his coach.

“It’s a difficult prospect to be honest, facing the Japanese champions,” Vicelich told FIFA.com. “For a small amateur team like ours, it’s going to take something absolutely out of the ordinary to get any kind of result.”

The Dec. 8-18 Club World Cup returns to Japan for the first time since 2008. The last two editions of the tournament were held in the UAE.

European champion Barcelona and South American champion Santos are the seeded teams and enter at the semifinal stage, which begins from Dec. 15.