Michael Burgess: Auckland City prepared for moment in sun

Raja Casablanca's Deo Kanda, right, and Auckland City FC's James Pritchett challenge for the ball during the opening game of the Club World Cup soccer tournament in Agadir, Morocco, last year. Photo / AP

The Fifa Club World Cup is on the move - which is a pity, as Morocco seems the perfect venue.

All the talk is that next year the event will return to Japan, who hosted the tournament during 2005-08 and 2011-12.

It's probably an economic necessity but is unfortunate, as Morocco brings many advantages.

Firstly, the passion for football is all-encompassing. It also exists in Japan, but sits beside baseball, sumo and other sports.

There are numerous Moroccan television channels devoted almost exclusively to the sport and the games at last year's tournament were well attended, with enthusiastic support for all the teams. It hasn't always been the case in the past (particularly when the event was staged in the United Arab Emirates).

"This is our World Cup," explained one local journalist. "It's a big, big deal."

It also helped that last year, Moroccan champions Raja Casablanca defied all expectations, becoming the first team from a host nation to reach the final since 2000.

The country has a strong football pedigree. They have qualified for the World Cup on four occasions and in 1986, the Lions of the Atlas became the first African nation to progress to the knockout stages (where they narrowly lost to eventual finalists West Germany).

But it's much more than football.

The country is a compelling mix. It's a slice of Africa mixed with a touch of Europe, the strong Arabic and Muslim culture together with the undoubted French influences from decades of colonialism.

The few Auckland City fans who journey there will be well rewarded for their efforts.

But what can they hope to see? Auckland City have a proud record at the Club World Cup, and their extraordinary feats of 2009 when they won two games will be long remembered.

Every year, there's potential for them to be taken apart, with the massive gulf in conditioning, skill, cohesion, crowd support, resources and travel demands. But so far - against the champions of Japan (2011, 2012) and Morocco (2013) - it hasn't happened.

Last year, they were level at 1-1 with Raja Casablanca after 92 minutes but conceded a late goal.

Raja went on to beat the North and South American champions before falling to Bayern Munich in the final.

Auckland's record is partly due to coach Ramon Tribulietx and his technical team, who have become experts at preparing their team to face higher-rated opponents.

The squad have trained at least five times a week since pre-season and Tribulietx has been watching tapes of Moghreb Ttouan for months.

"We only get one shot," he said. "I have to know what they might do at any particular situation, what players they use, their tactics."

Tribulietx's squad doesn't seem as strong this year. The 2012 team had Albert Riera as the orchestrator, along with a younger Ivan Vicelich, Jason Hicks, Chris Bale and Manel Exposito. Last year, Roy Krishna provided a genuine attacking threat and former Villareal midfielder Christobal Marquez added an X-factor. The pre-season injury to Portuguese striker Joao Moreira was a blow and there isn't the same depth in midfield. However, the return of Angel Berlanga is a boost, striker Emiliano Tade is in career-best form and Nigerian attacker Sanni Issa could be a wildcard.

Auckland City have struggled domestically this season - the 4-0 loss to Team Wellington last week was their worst ever - but their impressive 0-0 draw in Dubai with Uzbekistan (who had many of their top players and who beat the All Whites 3-1 this year) showed they are up for Thursday's battle.

It's crucial they again perform creditably, as the tournament provides a $1 million windfall for the sport here, with the prizemoney shared among the other ASB Premiership franchises.