Football: Everton exile makes himself at home

Auckland City FC players celebrate their quarter-final win. Photo / AP

Auckland City players stun football world by nailing semifinal spot and big bonus.

John Irving always thought he was destined to make an impact in football but certainly didn't imagine it would come from playing for an amateur club in the relative backwaters of Auckland.

Irving scored the winning goal in a man-of-the-match performance for Auckland City against African club champions ES Setif on Sunday to help them progress to the semifinals of the Club World Cup where they will play Copa Libertadores champions San Lorenzo tomorrow morning (NZT).

An unlikely victory against the Argentines would see them progress to the final where they would probably take on European champions Real Madrid, stacked with galacticos of the world game like Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Iker Casillas.

Irving, 25, always imagined playing against players of that ilk as he grew up in Liverpool. He was on the books of English Premier League outfit Everton from the age of 5 until 20, and was even on the bench for the first team a handful of times in pre-season games, but that's when his career took a dispiriting turn.

When the Toffees neglected to offer him a new deal, Irving assumed someone else would pick him up.

"I thought if I got released from Everton there would be someone [willing to sign me] because I had been at a Premiership club for near enough my whole life," he told the Herald earlier this year. "I had been trained by some of the best coaches in the country but no one was willing to take a risk and give me a go.

"I got a letter in the post from [Welsh Premier League team] Bala Town asking if I was interested in going down for a trial. That was a last resort just so I could play while people were trying to get me back into the Football League but nothing came up. It was a massive blow. I wasn't happy where I was playing in Wales and wanted a change, to go in a different direction."

That journey saw him end up in Ngaruawahia last year. After only a couple of games in the Northern League Division One, offers from ASB Premiership clubs started materialising and he settled on Auckland City, largely because it was a chance for Irving to try to secure a professional contract somewhere by playing in the Club World Cup.

The defender is like a lot of Auckland players, desperate to impress scouts.

"I'm not really fussed where I go," he said. "I just want to get to the highest standard I can before my time runs out."

For now, though, his goals are more team orientated.

"It's really incredible. We're in heaven," Irving told fifa.com. "Winning our first game [against Moghreb Tetouan] was the greatest day of our lives, but we were on another level [after beating ES Setif] and it's hard to explain the feeling. We never thought we'd end up among the four best sides here. We're all very proud.

"We're making history. I think we can say this is the best team Auckland City have ever had."