Massive Incentive For City To Retain Oceania Title

Auckland City FC depart for the OFC Champions League 2023 in Vanuatu on Thursday with their sights set on retaining the trophy they won in Auckland last year.

Up for grabs is a place at the last ever edition of the FIFA Club World Cup seven team format, a competition set to be held in Saudi Arabia in December but also on the line could be a berth at the Expanded FIFA Club World Cup in June 2025.

FIFA recently outlined its plans for a 32-club World Cup that could feature 12 clubs from Europe, 6 from South America, 4 each from Asia and Africa and one from Oceania.

The qualification criteria for the Expanded FIFA Club World Cup is measured across the four year cycle between 2021 and 2024.

While there is a lot of noise about that competition, Auckland City FC coach Albert Riera remains very focused on performing well in Vanuatu and retaining the title his team won for the tenth time last year.

“There will be no surprises. We have players with a lot of experience in these tournaments in the islands and others who haven’t been there.

"There are different elements to it, the climate, the heat, players that we’re going to be playing against who we are not used to playing against on a daily basis. Nobody’s easy. It’s very hard actually.

"The main focus is just plan, planning ahead of the Solomon Warriors game this weekend. And that’s actually the best preparation you can have for the OFC Champions League.

"I’ve been in Vanuatu as a player and it’s a great place with great people as well. They love football actually. I think it’s going to be a fantastic tournament. I think they’re going to bring about a great experience.

"We are not going to Port Vila, we are going to Santo (Luganville) But again, it doesn’t make a difference to us. So we are going there to do what we want to try to do, which is play good football and try to win games.”

Missing from the squad this time is the club's all-time highest goalscorer and appearance maker, Emiliano Tade.

The 35-year-old forward has a knee injury and is sidelined for at least the next ten weeks.

Last year, Auckland City FC won the OFC Champions League with five straight wins before losing 3-0 to African giants Al Ahly of Egypt in the FIFA Club World Cup in Tangier, Morocco, in February of this year.

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