Auckland City arrived in Dubai today facing a tight turnaround before a tough Fifa Club World Cup warm-up clash against Uzbekistan on Friday morning (NZT).
Auckland forward Emiliano Tade admitted to being a fatigued following the 19,000km journey but said the friendly match is already whetting the appetite.
"We're abit tired after a long trip but it's good we did two sessions today like we would normally do," Tade said. "It helps to recover the body and start developing towards our best performance."
The team will go into a three-day training camp ahead of the encounter with Uzbekistan, before backing up against Moghreb Tetouan on December 10 in the Club World Cup playoffs.
"It's a big game, it's huge," Tade said. "Probably the biggest game of our lives for some of our players."
Uzbekistan qualified for the Asian Cup in Australia in January and will field a close to full-strength line-up for the friendly.
However sizeable the task, Tade believed the carrot of a place in Ramon Tribulietx's starting XI can bring the best out of him and his teammates.
"Moghreb is a tough team but I am happy with my form so far this season," Tade said. "But the main thing is the team is preparing well. Uzbekistan have quality players and we cannot switch off."
Coach Ramon Tribulietx was expected to rotate his players for the game with an eye on selecting his line-up for the playoff match.
"We're expecting a good hit out against a team that is likely to be similar to the one we're going to face in Morocco, with a similar style and shape," Tribulietx said.
