KEY POINTS:
The difference between amateur and professional soccer was cruelly underlined when Auckland City left the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan winless and goalless early this morning.
Asian champions Jeonbuk Motors beat the mainly amateur Auckland City 3-0 in a play-off for fifth place to avoid bottom spot.
Teenager Hyun Seung Lee, midfield playmaker Hyeung Bum Kim and Brazilian striker Ze Carlo punished Auckland with 17th, 30th and 73rd minute goals respectively, the third from the penalty spot.
The New Zealanders lost their other game of the tournament 0-2 to Egypt's Al Ahly.
Auckland City caretaker coach Allan Jones said the game illustrated the gap amateur and professional soccer: "They weren't even in our top third for the first 16 minutes but when they got in there, they finished.
"I can't complain because these players have never experienced football at this level - they've only ever seen it on the telly."
Jones was left ruing lost opportunities as Grant Young and Keryn Jordan went close before halftime. Auckland's worse miss came 10 minutes after the interval when exhausted midfielder Paul Seaman was unable to tuck the ball into an empty net following a great run and cross from Young.
Auckland City had done New Zealand and Oceania football proud, Jones said.
"They couldn't have given me any more tonight - I thought 3-0 flattered them in the end," he said.
"I'm not saying for a minute we would have won the game because they were a far better side. But we asked a lot of questions of them. On another night it could have been a different story."
Jones was pleased with Auckland's out of possession work and with the greater composure his side showed on the ball.
Auckland return home on Sunday afternoon and must lift themselves for a match against rivals Waitakere City on Wednesday night.
- NZPA
