Finals spot for Auckland City
Auckland City have qualified for the Fifa Club World Cup Finals after a come-frombehind 2-1 victory over Vanuatu’s Amicale FC at Kiwitea St on Sunday.
The win means they have become the first club in the history of the game to qualify for four successive Fifa Club World Cup Finals. Their triumph also made history in New Zealand football, as until now, no club has held the ASB Charity Cup, ASB Premiership, ASB National Youth League and OFC Champions League crowns at the end of a single season.
With the teams level at 1-all following last Saturday’s first leg encounter in Port Vila, Amicale came into this match knowing that they had to score at least one goal to have a chance of victory. The perfect opportunity presented itself when Ivan Vicelich brought down Sanni Issa inside the penalty area. City goalkeeper Tamati Williams produced a brilliant save and tipped the spot-kick attempt wide. Amicale managed to find the back of the net on the stroke of halftime when Kensi Tangis headed the ball home to put them in the driving seat for the final 45 minutes.
Amicale hadn’t lost a game in this season’s Champions League heading into this match, and they looked on course to retain that record until the 67th minute when Ryan de Vries tucked the ball into an empty net. With the game tied at 1-all the final 20 minutes saw a stream of chances at both ends of the park, with both teams chasing a winning goal.
Three minutes from time, City made the breakthrough, with David Browne teaming up with de Vries to set up Emiliano Tade, who thundered home a glorious winner to the delight of the City fans. City will travel to Morocco in December for the Fifa Club World Cup Finals.