The Club
World Cup started life in 2000 as the World Club Championship with 8
teams. The 6 Confederation champions, the
champions of the host nation and the Inter-continental cup Champions
(the cup played between the champions of European & South
America).
The
original format was 2 groups of 4 teams with the top teams playing
each other in the final. This wasn't overly popular with the clubs
and Manchester United caused some upset in England when they withdrew
from the FA Cup in order to compete. The 2000 competition was held in
Brazil and the final was an all Brazilian affair with Corinthians
beating Vasco de Gama 4-3 on pens.
The next competition was due to take place in Spain in 2001 with 12 teams. The
draw had been made but then FIFA's marketing partner ISL collapsed
and the tournament was cancelled.
The idea of the tournament had obviously caught on with apparently 17 countries signaling their
interest in holding the tournament in 2003. This tournament never
happened but talks from this ended up with the Club World
Championship and the Inter-continental Cup being merged to create the
Club World Cup.
The
format was changed with the champions of Asia, CONCACAF, Africa &
Oceania playing in the quarter finals with the champions of UEFA &
CONMEBOL entering at the semi final stage. In 2007 the number of
teams was increased to 7 with the Champions of the host country
playing off against the Oceania Champions and the winner progressing
to the quarter final stage. Significant prize money was also offered, with the winners receiving US$5 million, and even 7th place getting US$500k.
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| Barcelona 2011 Champions |
The
winners of the competition have always come from the UEFA and
CONEMBOL confederations, in fact all the finalists have come from
these confederations with the exception of 2010 when African
Champions TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo went down
3-0 to Italy's Inter Milan and 2013 when host team, Moroccan
champions, Raja Casablanca lost 2-0 to Germany's Bayern Munich.
Corinthians
of Brazil and Barcelona of Spain have both won the competition twice
with other winners being Sao Paulo, Internacional (both from Brazil),
Manchester United (England), AC Milan, Internazionale (Italy), Bayern
Munich (Germany) and current holders Real Madrid (Spain).
In all
there have been 54 teams from 24 different countries competing in the
11 tournaments which have been held in Japan, UAE & Morocco.
Brazil & Mexico have provided the most teams with
6 each and teams from countries as diverse as Papua New Guinea, Iran, Tunisia,
China and of course New Zealand have competed.
New
Zealand has had 2 teams compete, Waitakere United finished 7th
in 2007 & 2008, but it is Auckland City, who will be making a record
breaking 7th appearance at the competition, that have made it their tournament. Their records include
- Most Tournaments (7)
- Most Consecutive Tournaments (5)
- Most Games (12) - shared with Al-Ahly of Egypt
- Manager at most tournaments - Ramon Tribulietx (5)
- Player at most tournaments - Daniel Koprivcic (6, 2 with Waitakere United)
- Most consecutive players - Emilano Tade (5) will surpass Ivan Vicelich (4) at this tournament
Their best
performance coming in 2014 when they stunned the world by finishing
3rd after taking South American Champions, San Lorenzo to
extra time in the semi-final.
The big
question is can Auckland City do it again?
They will be without the on field presence of the godfather, Ivan Vicelich, winner of the
Bronze ball at the last tournament, although he is there in his
capacity as assistant coach.
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| Vicelich with his Bronze ball and a couple of others in 2014 |
Last
year their build up included the ASB Premiership games, the bizarre
Oceania President's Cup competition and a friendly against Uzbekistan
(a 0-0 draw), this year they have had the ASB Premiership games and a
friendly against Yokohama (a 1-1 draw).
They
have been drawn against recently crowned Japanese champions,
Sanfreece Hiroshima, a team they lost 1-0 to in the 2012 competition.
It is a
huge task, Auckland City are amateurs that train 5 nights a week
after they have finished work and play each week in front of 500-1000
people. Sanfreece Hiroshima are a fully professional side that plays
in front of 16000 a week, contain 6 recent Japanese internationals in
their squad and have just secured their 3rd J-League title
in 4 seasons.
But
Auckland City do have coach Ramon Tribulitex, It's a testament to him
and Auckland City that he turned down other more lucrative offers
after the last Club World Cup as they didn't allow him the freedom
Auckland City does in managing the team. He is known for his meticulous homework on the opposition and working out strategies to
counteract their strengths. And as the team showed in 2014 they are capable of doing it.
If they
do manage to beat Sanfreece Hiroshima, they will come up against
African Champions TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
They are another team that Auckland City have met in this competition
before, beating them 3-2 in 2009 to secure 5th position.
So C'mon
Auckland City, you can do it!!!
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