PREVIEW: Auckland City keen to turn underdog status to their advantage

Auckland City head coach Albert Riera says his side goes into their FIFA Club World Cup tie with a few advantages over opponents Al-Ittihad.

“One I would say is that we’re are the underdog,” Riera told Auckland City Media ahead of Wednesday’s match (7am NZT).

Riera said another was that the Saudi Arabian champions were expected to win, and win easily, in front of what’s likely to be a partisan crowd of up to 60,000 at King Abdulah Sports City Stadium, Jeddah.

“We’re going to utilize that to our advantage. That’s what we are focusing addressing to the players that we all have a pride, we all play football for many years and in a one-off game, anything is possible.

“I think the pressure that those guys have, the Al-Ittihad players have, it is huge, massive … not just to beat us but doing it probably with a big margin.”

Riera says some of his squad also have experience playing at the tournament.

“We will stick to our game plan with our players — they really enjoy it; they have a lot of confidence.”

As for Auckland City’s chances of getting a win?

“We’re very realistic. I would say the chances to lose the game are higher than winning it. If that’s the reality, I don’t know, you know, the percentage of it but what we know is that we’re going to be playing a team that is very strong in front of the the crowd, in front of the fans on the opening game of the big tournament.”

Main photo: Auckland City players prepare for Wednesday’s game beside the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium.

Watch Albert Riera interview

Milestones for the game

For Auckland City, Wednesday’s match will mark the club’s 11th foray into the FIFA Club World Cup — more than any other club in the world.

If striker Emiliano Tade (35) gets on the pitch, he’ll equal the record of Al Ahly winger Hussein Elshahat of 12 Club World Cup appearances.

Al-Ittihad have three Club World Cup winners in their ranks. Karim Benzema won five titles with Real Madrid, Fabinho helped Liverpool conquer at Qatar 2019, and N’Golo Kante was central to Chelsea’s UAE 2021 triumph.

State of the squads

Al-Ittihad will be without Italy centre-back Luiz Felipe, who suffered a muscle tear during their last game before the tournament. Romarinho and Karim Benzema, who had both been out injured, have returned to training and are at the disposal of head coach Marcelo Gallardo.

Auckland coach Riera has a full squad to select from.

Match officials

The three on-field officials will be the same all-female trio that officiated at this year’s final of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Sydney.

READ MORE: The trailblazing trio who’ll officiate Auckland City’s FIFA Club World Cup tie >>>>

What they say

“I think we have to be ourselves. We’ve done a lot of homework. We have a game plan we think we can use to get at them a bit. We’re not going to get overwhelmed by the occasion; we are going to express ourselves.” — Angus Kilkolly, Auckland City striker.

“Any game in the Club World Cup is always very tough. The first game always has the nervousness factor too. It’s one game only, a knockout match; you need to win to stay alive in the competition. We know Auckland will be tough to beat.” — Marcelo Grohe, Al-IIttihad goalkeeper.

“They’ve brought in some world-class players, some of the best in the world. It will be very challenging. Sometimes when you mix the best players in the world, it doesn’t gel, but I’ve been watching their games and it has gelled.” — Cameron Howieson, Auckland City midfielder.

“We can’t look beyond our first assignment, which in these cases tend to be the most important one.” — Marcelo Gallardo, Al-Ittihad head coach.

“We don’t kid ourselves that we’re one of the mega clubs in the world. We’re not. That’s obvious. But we can be the best version of ourselves and that’s what underpins everything that we do.” — Gordon Watson, Auckland City general manager.

Squads

Officials

Referee: Tori Penso (United States)
Assistant Referee 1: Brooke Mayo (United States)
Assistant Referee 2: Katie Nesbitt (United States)
Fourth Official: Jean-Jacques Ndala Ngambo (DR Congo)

Fixture

FIFA Club World Cup

Game to be played on Wednesday December 13 (NZT)

Al-Ittihad v Auckland City
King Abdulah Sports City Stadium, 7am (NZT)

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