Football: De Vries aims to make history

Auckland City striker Ryan De Vries. Photo / Auckland City media.

Auckland City striker Ryan De Vries is excited about his side's match against Uzbekistan tomorrow morning, a rare opportunity to mix it up with international opposition.

The South African born striker has been in good form this season and was an integral figure as the Navy Blues won the quadruple of ASB Premiership, OFC Champions League, ASB Charity Cup and ASB minor premiership last season.

Now De Vries has his eyes set on even loftier targets despite last weekend's 4-0 away loss to Team Wellington.

"The Uzbekistan match is big for all the boys, I'm really stoked because its not everyday you get to play a national team. Its a good warm up game and we try to win everything, its pretty good.

"It was a very disappointing result but we've looked over the video to see what we did wrong and put that right over the next few games.

"We've taken the positives out of the negative and we've got to work hard and do what we do best," he says.

Uzbekistan have lost just one of their last six international matches and are ranked 74th in the world by FIFA.

De Vries, though prefers to focus on the Navy Blues real target - beating Moghreb Tetouan at the FIFA Club World Cup on December 10 in Morocco.

"I've seen video footage of Moghreb Tetouan and they look a pretty good side. But we've got to focus on what we do best and try and go out and win the game and be positive," he says.

And if any further incentive were needed, De Vries turns to last year's heartbreaking last gasp 2-1 loss to Raja Casablanca for inspiration.

"It was nailbiting. In stages we had them (Raja Casablanca) running for cover. That's what happens when you play a professional team - you can be in fourth gear and they can find another few gears and push it up higher. Things like that can happen.

"Hopefully we can correct what happened last year and push them (Moghreb Tetouan) right to the end. It was unreal, all the fans singing and chanting. It's like "Wow, I'm actually here"," he says.

Like any footballer, De Vries has set goals, among them personal and team objectives he hopes bear fruit in Morocco.

"Hopefully, I get noticed by a few other clubs and become a pro," he says - as a team? "To win. Go to the next round and see if we can win the next game and go as far as possible. Let's see if we can make history," he says.

The match between Auckland and Uzbekistan kicks off at 5pm local time on Thursday 4 December at Jabal Ali Stadium on the outskirts of Dubai.