Auckland City coach Ramon Tribulietx believes the only way to become truly competitive at the FIFA Club World Cup is to become a professional club, even though that is an unlikely scenario within the current context of New Zealand football.
As the team flew out of Japan on Friday afternoon after a narrow1-0 loss to J-League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima, Tribulietx admitted the gulf in class was difficult to overcome.
Auckland City enjoyed an extended build-up in Japan - including a match against a local second division team - and have lived as professionals for the past ten days - but ultimately that wasn't enough.
"I don't think anyone can understand how big a step this is - you can only understand if you are part of it," said Tribulietx. "It's a huge step - these guys are full time and they are technically very good, their touches are very sharp. It's very hard, unless you become professional we are going to be hanging on. We will be hanging on and competing but it will be very hard to be on an even level with these professional teams."
The New Zealand side held their own for long periods of the match despite Hiroshima creating several chances and were only undone by a world class goal in the 66th minute. Receiving the ball around 25 yards from goal, midfielder Tosihiro Aoyama smashed a bullet like shot that flew up before dipping violently into the net. Even the Japanese media were stunned by the quality of the strike, quizzing Aoyama post match to find out how he had managed such a shot without imparting spin on the ball.
