Auckland City draw in Club World Cup warm-up match

Auckland City FC player Ryan De Vries. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Auckland City have drawn 1-1 with J-League Two team Yokohama FC in a Club World Cup warm-up match in Yokohama.

Joao Moreira swept home a Dae Wook Kim cross to give the New Zealand and Oceania champions a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute and nearly doubled the advantage in bizarre circumstances when he clipped the ball over an on-rushing goalkeeper only for the ball to rebound off a post.

The striker could only look on as his follow-up shot was then deflected onto the other post by Tsubasa Shibuya.

But the visitors paid for that missed double chance when Yosuke Nazaki headed home a quickly taken short corner in additional time at the end of the first half.

City coach Ramon Tribulietx made three changes at halftime and further changes throughout the second half as he gave as many of his squad a run as possible ahead of the Club World Cup.

With both teams unloading their respective benches the match became fragmented with chances going begging at both ends.

The most notable when substitute goalkeeper Danyon Drake watched Michael Den Heijer head clear with an empty net exposed after Drake was forced into a tackle outside his penalty area.

Both Den Heijer and Jesse Edge enjoyed good performances with Edge impressing after scant opportunities in the ASB Premiership given the form of Marko Dordevic and Angel Berlanga.

City will face the Japanese J-League champions on Thursday in a playoff for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima scored a last-gasp 3-2 away win over Gamba Osaka in the first leg of the J-League championship final on Wednesday. The second leg will be played on Saturday, where the team to face Auckland City in the playoff match will be found.

If the Kiwi outfit are able to win their way through to the tournament's main draw, they will face African club champions TP Mazembe next Sunday night (NZ time).

Last year City, a semi-professional team, went on a dream run all the way to the semifinals.