Play-offs shown live
It all starts tomorrow for Auckland City FC in their FIFA Club World Cup Finals play-off against the host nation’s representatives Moghreb Athletic de Tetouan.
The match, held in Morocco, will be shown on Sky Sports from 8.30am ( NZ time) with the winner advancing to the quarter-finals, where they will play ES Setif of Algeria from 5am on Sunday.
They will also earn themselves an additional US$500,000 – in addition to the US$500,000 which City earned by qualifying for the finals as champions of Oceania. City got their preparations back on track by holding the national team of Uzbekistan to a scoreless draw in Dubai on Thursday. Only three months ago the Uzbekistanis defeated the All Whites 3-1 in a friendly in Tashkent, so for City to record a result of this magnitude is a great fillip for the Kiwitea St club. What’s more, they could well have won the game – only the woodwork prevented Ryan de Vries from scoring a sensational winner in this friendly.
Meanwhile, the Junior Blues scored a come- from-behind 4-1 victory over Manawatu United on Sunday to bolster their hopes of a midtable finish in the ASB National Youth League.
Maro Bonsu-Maro’s equaliser was swiftly supplemented by a Ross McPhie goal, and two goals from Nick Zambrano put City in an unassailable position five minutes before halftime.
Auckland now travels to Trafalgar Park on Sunday to take on Nelson Marlborough Falcons.