Soccer: Auckland City up against hardened Sydney FC

Auckland City have been handed no favours in their bid for a place in the rich Fifa club championship.

The NZ Football Championship winners will play Sydney FC first up in the Oceania club championship in Tahiti on June 1. Sydney FC yesterday beat surprise finalists Central Coast Mariners 1-0 in Gosford to book their place in the six-team play-off in Papeete.

Unlike the New Zealand teams, which met the Oceania Football Confederation deadline by completing their competition in March, the Australian qualifiers head to Tahiti on the back of three hard matches.

City coach Allan Jones and assistant coach Craig Alexander were interested spectators at yesterday's Gosford game, as was NZ Knights coach John Adshead, who took the opportunity to again check out two of the teams he will confront in the upcoming A-League.

"Sydney are a well-coached and disciplined team with some exceptionally good and talented players," said Jones. "They will play an orthodox 4-4-2 which we will need to unlock. We have learned heaps by being able to watch this game."

Also in City's pool at the OFC playoffs are Pirae (Tahiti) and Papua New Guinea champions Sobou. The top two teams will qualify for the June 8 semifinals.

While the Australians have had the benefit of a series of tough matches against top sides, Jones has had to let his players join a variety of Northern Premier clubs to get some football ahead of the most important matches of their careers.

Jones has recently had his players together three nights early in the week before rejoining their northern clubs on Thursday and playing in the weekend.

He has stuck mostly with the players who won the inaugural NZ Community Trust NZFC but has called in goalkeeper Simon Eaddy (from Waitakere United) and Chris McIvor (from Napier City).

With the players now free of commitments to their winter clubs, Jones has matches planned against North Shore United (tomorrow) and Central United (next Tuesday) before leaving for Tahiti.

If City win through to the final, they will have to play five games in 12 days.

Making it through to the Fifa final in Japan in December would be a trip of a lifetime.

Already qualified are Costa Rica champions Deportivo Saprissa - who beat Mexican winners Pumas UNAM 3-2 (over two legs) in the North-Central American (Concacaf) final.

The next finalist will be found on May 28 when Liverpool play AC Milan.

They will be joined in Japan by the yet-to-be-found Asian, African and South American champions.