When the amateurs - the school teachers, accountants and students - of Auckland FC step out to play the Fifa Club World Cup quarter-final against Mexican side Atlante in Abu Dhabi on Sunday morning (NZT), it really is a tale of two contrasting clubs.
The Mexican side regularly plays infront of 20,000 screaming fans at its home stadium in Cancun. The Aucklanders, by contrast, play in front of average crowds of about 600 at tranquil Kiwitea St in Sandringham.
The Mexican side is used to dealing with budgets in the millions of dollars (or pesos); but for Auckland City FC, the US$500,000 they have won from yesterday's victory is several years' budget rolled into one huge windfall.
Here's some other comparisons to note:
Auckland City (AKL) and Atlante (AT)
Founded in
AKL: 2004
AT: 1916
League played in
AKL: NZ Football Championship
AT: Mexican First Division League
2009 achievement
AKL: Club Champions of Oceania
AT: Club Champions of CONCAFAF
Team beaten to make the FIFA Club World Cup
AKL: Koloale FC of the Solomon Islands
AT: US MLS side Houston Dynamo
Teams/countries in region competing to qualify for Abu Dhabi
AKL: (Oceania) 11, representing a total population of five million
AT: (CONCACAF) 24, representing a total population of 400 million
