KEY POINTS:
Auckland City coach Colin Tuaa will pitch South Korean star Ki-Hyung Lee straight into action in tomorrow's O-League opener against top Tahitian side AS Manu Ura.
Lee, signed by City in the off-season, will take his place in the midfield as they begin their campaign at home but away from their beloved Kiwitea St base.
In undertaking extensive renovations to the pitch, the club has been forced west for the first weeks of the new season, with tomorrow's game and their opening New Zealand Football Championship matches to be played at the Croation Cultural Society's ground in Henderson.
But, given the support the club enjoys from their traditional fan base and with the expected influx from Auckland's Korean community, there remains the expectation of a big crowd as City start their chase for a repeat of their 2006 O-League triumph.
While his team is short on pre-season match play, Tuaa is confident they will be ready for the challenge the Tahitians pose.
"We haven't played a lot but the players have worked hard on their fitness," said Tuaa, who returns to club coaching after a year out following his NZFC stint with YoungHeart Manawatu. "The players are all fit but we have to work around some suspension worries."
New signings George Suri and Craig Wylie have carry-over one-match stand-downs from their time with Waitakere United while Riki Van Steeden is also sidelined through suspension.
Lee, 33, who spent time pre-season with the Wellington Phoenix, is regarded as an excitement machine.
He has 47 full caps for his country after playing at youth and Olympic levels.
A regular in the competitive K-League - playing 257 matches scoring 23 goals - Lee was in the championship-winning Suwon Samsung club in 1998 and 1999 and won a third title with Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in 2003.
"Ki is a great acquisition for our club," said Tuaa. "As a player he is very strong defensively. His qualities will enhance the way we play in midfield and hopefully provide us with the dominance and control we need to set off the attacking flair we have within our squad."
The international connection continues to grow at City with Argentine striker Eliezer Anello set to join long-serving South Africans Keryn Jordan and Grant Young up front. Anello, playing for Three Kings United in the winter league, scored a hatful of goals and is expected to continue in that vein with his new club.
The O-League, symbol of club supremacy in the Oceania Football Confederation, is keenly contested with the winner guaranteed a spot in the annual Fifa Club World Cup.
The two New Zealand clubs, Auckland City and Waitakere United, have again been paired in one group which will produce more of the titanic battles the rivals have had in the past.
AS Manu Ura promise to pose more of a challenge than New Caledonia's AS Mont Dore - who lost their four games - did last season.
A 3-0 win over Temarii Faaa last weekend sent AS Manu Ura, the defending champions, backto the top of the Tahiti Federale - French Polynesia's premier competition - points table after an unbeaten two-win, one-draw start to their season.
With both Tahitian national goalkeepers, Daniel Tapeta and Jonathan Torohia, in the AS Manu Ura squad, there will be some competition for that berth in tomorrow's game.
Other players likely to capture attention include prolific striker Billy Mataitai, 24, who shone at this year's South Pacific Games in Samoa and the OFC Beach Soccer Championship in Auckland and muscular, bustling striker Auguste Washetine who too was a factor at the SPG.
The visitors, who arrive in Auckland today, face a tough start to their campaign.
After tomorrow's game they are back in action on Wednesday playing Waitakere at Fred Taylor Park.
The next matches are scheduled for February 15-20 when Waitakere play in Tahiti and return to play City away. The final group matches are in late March-early April with Auckland City on the road and facing a finale against Waitakere.
The other group, featuring teams from Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands finishes on March 29. The play-offs between the group winners are scheduled for late April-early May.
