KEY POINTS:
Auckland City coach Roger Wilkinson is not mincing words about his side's preparations for taking on some of the heavyweights in world football at next month's Fifa Club World Cup in Japan.
"We pray a lot before [training] sessions," said a straight-faced Wilkinson at a Fifa-hosted function in Auckland yesterday at which details of the six-team championship were revealed.
"We are part-time, not fulltime, unlike the others," said Wilkinson. "But that means there is no bigger incentive to win. If the prayers are answered we might win our first game, which would be fantastic."
City will not know until November 11 who they play in the tournament opener at Toyota Stadium on December 10. They have been drawn to play the winner of the African Champions League.
The first match of that home-and-away series between Al Ahly (Egypt) and CS Sfaxien (Tunisia) on Sunday was drawn 1-1.
The winner of the game between Auckland City, as Oceania champions, and the African representative will then play South American champions Sport Club Internacional (Brazil) in the semifinals.
European champions Barcelona will play in the other semifinal. Their opponent will be decided when the Asia champion - either Jeonbuk Motors (Korea) or Al Karama (Syria), - play Concacaf representative Club America (Mexico).
City chairman Ivan Vuksich is fully aware of the challenge his club and players face. "It is the highest honour ever achieved by any club in this part of the world," he said.
"We have to perform to a level which will allow us [Oceania] to stay in this competition. I will be ecstatic if we could emulate Sydney FC, who won a game and went on to finish fifth."
With US$15 million in prizemoney at stake - from US$4.5 million to the winner to US$1 million for the team finishing sixth - this is no kick around in a big park.
City defender Riki van Steeden, who was born and raised in Nelson, put it in context by admitting winning through to such a big stage was something "beyond anything I had ever imagined".
The pressure now is on Sykes, van Steeden and the other players as they must stay injury free and hope their names are on the list Wilkinson will read out before the end of the month.
At yesterday's well-attended function chaired by Fifa's Nicolas Maingot, Vuksich took the opportunity to introduce Japanese midfielder Teruo Iwamoto.
The former international will play five NZFC matches for City, starting with Saturday's home game against Waikato FC, before travelling with them to his homeland for the December 10-17 tournament.
