On any normal Monday morning, Auckland City defender and vice-captain Adam Mitchell is planning his week in the property market.
The 29-year-old is a real estate agent with Harcourts, working alongside his father in the industry.
But this Monday morning (4am NZT),Mitchell will be running out in front of a capacity crowd in Cincinatti, as the Sandringham-based side take on Bayern Munich FC in the Fifa Club World Cup.
It’s another reminder of the Herculean task ahead of Auckland City’s amateur team. Also in the squad are a primary school teacher, an insurance broker, a barber, a sales rep at Coca Cola, a couple of retail salesman, a car detailer, a regional manager for a car detailer and a handful of students.
“Honestly, as a young New Zealander, you would never think that you would be playing against the likes of Bayern Munich,” Mitchell told Fifa.com. “I’m not even sure there’s been a situation where Auckland City and Bayern Munich have been in the same sentence!
“It’s just an amazing feeling and we have an opportunity to test ourselves against the world’s best and we’re going to give it our all.”
Adam Mitchell of Auckland City FC. Photo / Photosport
The greatest underdogs battle in New Zealand sports history?
There have been some unlikely match-ups over the years, from minnows taking on the big-city teams in the Ranfurly Shield, to the 1982 All Whites being pitched against Brazil, with that edition of the Selecao being regarded as one of the best in their history. There have been David-and-Goliath scenarios at Olympics and Commonwealth Games, in rugby league internationals, in tennis tournaments and at the Melbourne Cup.
But it’s hard to imagine there has been anything quite as outrageous as this. Bayern Munich are European football royalty, one of the biggest and richest teams on the continent. They have recently chalked up their 34th Bundesliga title and have won six Uefa Champions League titles from 11 finals. They have been the most dominant club in Germany since the early 1970s, with massive financial resources and a huge fan base. They have 20 national team players across their squad, including some of the biggest names in football. They have more that 4,000 official fan clubs across the globe and had revenues of more than $1.5 billion last year.
Auckland City’s income in the last financial year was less than $1 million. Their amateur team have to take leave from work and studies to be at this tournament, where they will experience a few weeks of living and training like professionals. They have been kings of Oceania club football for a long time – winning 12 of the last 15 editions of the Oceania Champions League – and have enjoyed some storied moments at previous editions of the Fifa Club World Cup.
But this new, revamped version, with 32 teams and a billion dollars of Fifa prizemoney, has created a completely different challenge. Perhaps the best way to sum up the disparity is from the relevant squad values.
On the open market, Bayern Munich’s squad have an estimated worth of $1.8b, while Auckland City’s would be priced at around $8.80m. The Bavarian team spent the best part of €53m ($101m) to sign French international Michael Olise from Premier League side Crystal Palace last year. As one Auckland City official joked, “that would be enough money to run our club for 200 years”.
Angus Kilkolly celebrates a goal in the 2024 National League final, seven months after his father had passed away. Photo / Photosport
The smallest fish in Fifa’s biggest pond
This Club World Cup is being run along the same lines as a Fifa World Cup. There is huge prizemoney, massive stadiums (though crowds will vary) and team are ferried by private jet across the country, flying to games and then returning to their city base camps the same night or the next morning.
In this way, Auckland City are by far the smallest entity ever to take part in one of Fifa’s grandiose tournaments. They have a shade over 500 club members and a handful of fulltime staff, though that contingent has been bolstered for this event. In terms of scale, it feels like a crazy scenario – similar to the Cayman Islands or Greenland being at the World Cup next year.
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.
