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Auckland City celebrate - Source: Reuters -
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Ivan Vicelich and his men are just 90 minutes away from facing up to European champions Barcelona after their shock win in the FIFA Club World Cup on Thursday
Auckland City now progress to the quarterfinals where they will face Mexico's Atlante on Sunday (NZT), but regardless of that outcome the victory continues the fairytale season that football is enjoying in New Zealand.
First, the under-17 men became the first team to advance beyond the group stages of a FIFA tournament, then the All Whites qualified for the big show in South Africa after an unbelievable night in Wellington.
tvnz.co.nz spoke to Auckland captain Ivan Vicelich days before he left for the global club showpiece and his words now appear eerily prophetic.
"It is our ambition to get a result. The possibilities are there, if we keep training hard and have a good performance on the day, then we could get an upset.
"If we can hold out for the first 15-20 minutes - get a bit of confidence from that, then anything can happen.
"It's on the world stage, it's a massive tournament and, for some of the boys, it will never come again.
"When it comes to the game there will be a little bit of a buzz inside every player - little bit of nerves and that little bit extra that you get from playing big games."
Auckland City players and officials had emphasised how much
extra physical work they had done in the weeks and months before
the match and this certainly paid off on Thursday.
Defensive shape
They managed to keep their defensive shape and remained strong towards the end, despite the UAE side enjoying a monopoly of possession in the final stages of the game.
Coach Paul Posa got his tactics spot on when it mattered and the extended time in camp before the tournament seems to have paid big dividends.
Most importantly the players had the game of their lives, and unlike our beloved All Blacks and more especially those flaky Black Caps, performed to their full potential in a pressure situation when it really mattered.
Commentator John Helm felt obliged to remind the global audience that this team from the shaky isles are amateurs, pointing out that the squad contained an account manager, a student and an interior decorator, amongst others.
Helm has quite an affinity with New Zealand, having been based here for the FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup in October 2008 and also commentating on matches for TVNZ during the Beijing Olympics.
He had to remain impartial, and kept warning of a grandstand
finish should the home side grab a goal but you could almost hear
the smile in his voice when victory was confirmed.
Closer
New Zealand teams have never enjoyed a long stay at the FIFA Club World Cup, though they have been getting closer with each attempt.
Auckland City lost 0-2 and 0-3 in 2006 before Waitakere City became the first Oceania team to notch a goal in a 1-3 loss in 2007.
In 2008 the West Auckland side took an early lead against Adelaide United but were eventually beaten 2-1.
This time around the OFC Champions took an intelligent game plan into the match and showed their willingness to try and keep the ball rather than adopting a long ball approach.
Al Ahli dominated possession but Auckland always looked dangerous on the counterattack and scored their first goal through Adam Dickinson after a long range break.
In an eerie parallel, it was scored after 44 minutes which was the same point that Rory Fallon notched his now famous header in Wellington.
Chad Coombes then scored a 25-yard screamer on 67 minutes, after cutting in from the right hand touchline.
He always had an eye for a goal and had netted some beauties over the years in the NZFC, but certainly chose the perfect stage to score the goal of his life.
