KEY POINTS:
It's a bit like the Sesame St skit that tells viewers "one of these kids is doing his own thing". You know, three kids might be bouncing a ball while the odd one out is strumming a ukulele.
It's not hard to pick the odd one out in
this line-up. European champions Barcelona will be there. So too will 2006 Copa Libertadores champions Sporting Internacional. There will also be Jeonbuk Motors from Korea, Egypt's Al Ahly and Mexican giants Club America.
Rounding off the list is Auckland City, a side of printers, surveyors and sales reps who all have to get time off work to travel to Japan.
The odds are seriously stacked against Auckland making anything more than a ripple when they head to the Club World Cup in Japan this week and it's fair to say most pundits would be quite comfortable giving them extremely long odds.
Oceania are a little nervous, given their survival as a confederation rests on Oceania teams performing credibly at world tournaments.
"People are expecting us to fail so there is no pressure on us," says Auckland City striker Grant Young as he contemplates competing alongside the likes of Ronaldinho, Deco, Lilian Thuram and Carles Puyol.
In the NZFC, Young and fellow South African Keryn Jordan are the superstars. Young last week won the NZFC Player of the Year award for the second time, while Jordan claimed his second golden boot title after knocking in 21 goals last season.
They are not names, however, that are likely to resonate with their opponents, international media or the Japanese public. Auckland will be more curiosity factor than a factor.
They guaranteed some coverage, though, when they signed former the Japan midfielder and celebrity Teruo Iwamoto on a short-term contract for the Club World Cup.
Iwamoto is likely to court most of the attention, and his new team-mates were given a taste of it when a handful of Japanese media travelled to Auckland for his NZFC debut.
"We won't know how big this is going to be until we get there," Young says. "Teruo will deflect most of the attention from us because he's such a novelty there but he has said we will be like superstars. Once we get there, I think we'll realise what we're in for."
It's been a drama-filled season for the two-time NZFC champions. Allan Jones handed the coaching reins to Roger Wilkinson at the end of last season but Wilkinson was sacked after failing to win over his players.
Young and Jordan are coy about what happened but it's understood the players had little confidence in the new coach and the final straw was a row involving Jordan, Wilkinson and Wilkinson's son, Sam.
"We are just players," Jordan says diplomatically. "Roger was the one who said maybe it wasn't the club for him. Maybe it wasn't."
Wilkinson attempted a radical change in the way Auckland played, from a high-tempo, kick-and-rush style under Jones to a passing game, with mixed results.
"We didn't resist what Roger was trying to do," Young takes up, "it was maybe the way he was trying to implement it. I think it was a bit too much in too short a space of time to try to change things."
The players are desperate for Jones to return (he should get medical sign-off tomorrow from his ankle injury to fly to Japan on Wednesday), not least because he gets the best out of his charges. He also has the distinction of coaching a Saudi Arabian side to two wins over Auckland's first-up opponents, Al Ahly.
"Things are looking up but when Jonesy comes on board it will be an extra boost," Jordan says. "We'll go back to the style that everyone knows and that worked for us."
Jordan knocked in a hat-trick against Otago last weekend playing the Jones way after what had been a frustrating season by the 31-year-old's standards. He's always scored goals and won two caps for Bafana Bafana in 1999 before moving to New Zealand in 2004.
He had two failed attempts to join the Knights - the first when John Adshead opted out of signing the striker even though they had a pre-contract agreement and the second when talks finally broke down when former manager Paul Nevin signed a third goalkeeper.
"Having played professionally all of my life I wanted to give it another nudge, especially the A-League," Jordan explains. "I wanted to see if I was capable of performing but a series of things happened... it was meant to be."
A Japan trip is not a bad alternative.
The road to the final
The Club World Cup is played for by the club champions from each of the six confederations. As seeded teams, Europe's Barcelona and South America's Sporting Internacional have a first-round bye.
The Draw
Game 1: Dec 10 - Auckland City (NZ) vs Al Ahly (Egypt)
Game 2: Dec 11 - Jeonbuk Motors (Korea) vs America (Mexico)
Semifinals
Game 3: Dec 13 - winner game 1 vs Internacional de Porto Alegre (Brazil)
Game 4: Dec 14 - winner game 2 vs FC Barcelona (Spain)
Match for 5th and 6th places
Game 5: Dec 15 - loser game 1 vs loser game 2
Match for 3rd and 4th places
Game 6: Dec 17 - loser game 3 vs loser game 4
Final
Game 7: Dec 17 - winner game 3 vs winner game 4